Come back to me
by CagedHeart
Summary: Go Back, Sakura, Go back Sequel. Naruto vs. Akatsuki. Sasuke vs. Orochimaru. Sakura: Kidnapped, she's in a place to DIE for. SasuSaku, little NaruHina
1. Remember what he said

**A/N:this is the sequel to Go back Sakura go back. To every one who wanted a sequel or new chapter, this is it.**

**Summary:** After meeting Sasuke, Sakura finds out that the Akatsuki want Naruto. Still. Orochimaru still wants Sasuke and what do this things have in common? And how does she find out? The victim of kidnapping. She's gonna have to save herself, but I see someone in the distance.

* * *

"Agh," Sakura groaned opening her eyes. She immediately closed her eyes because of the viciously white, bright walls of the hospital she knew so well. She raised a hand to her head trying to sooth the painful headache she was starting to get.

"No, she's asleep, Naruto. Now get out of my hospital," she heard the voice of Lady Tsunade outside her room door. She slowly opened her eyes again and adjusted them to the brightness. Then she noticed a bowel of ramen placed at her bedside table. The words 'Get well soon, Sakura' written on the side.

"Please Granny Tsunade, this isn't your hospital, it's Konoha's hospital," she heard him retort before a loud banging sound could be heard though out the floor. Sakura's lips were tugging at the corners forming a smile. The door to the room slammed open with irritation and closed in the same manner.

Sakura saw her master walk over to her bed with her nose in the clipboard. She looked down to see Sakura starring at her.

"Your awake?" she asked mildly surprised. Sakura looked at the door then back at Tsunade.

"With all that noise it'd be impossible to sleep," she smiled. Her master returned the smile.

"Naruto is insisting that he be allowed to see you, but since you were sleeping I didn't want him to wake you up with that mouth of his," she said putting her hand on Sakura's forehead. "What happened to you?"

Sakura looked at her master funny. It took her a moment before a memory dam broke. Thoughts of the mission, of Sasuke, of what he said poured though the cracks.

"Wait for me."

That sentence echoed in her head louder than a drill sergeant taking roll call. It added to the headache she already had. But she didn't want Tsunade to know she met Sasuke, and she defiantly didn't want her to know about the make-out session they shared either.

"Nothing much happened. Enemy ninja, that's it. I mean we were near enemy territory," she lied not looking Tsunade in the eye. She never liked to lie to anyone, least of all Naruto, Tsunade, or Kakashi.

"You sure?" Tsunade asked not really believing Sakura. She didn't trust her voice so she nodded. Tsunade let it go. Thankfully.

"Since your awake you can get out tomorrow morning," Tsunade declared standing up and making her way to the door. Sakura stopped her with a question.

"How long have I been unconscious?" she asked, she wanted to know how long ago she saw Sasuke and if that ramen was still good. Because it was looking like heaven at the moment.

"You were brought here yesterday morning when your team came back," Tsunade answered closing the door. Sakura was going to guess the ramen was still good and picked it up off the table and started to eat it much faster than normal.

_"Wait for me."_

_What does he mean by that?_ she asked herself.

**What do you think? **her inner asked.

_I don't know, stupid, that's why I asked,_ she told her innerself.

**Idiot, must I do everything myself?** inner Sakura asked dramatically.

_Shut up and start talking, damnit!_ she demanded. Her inner sighed.

**He's coming back, that's what he meant, **her inner said.

_And he wants me to wait for him. What the hell gave him the impression I wasn't?! I've wasted so much time on him and he still has the nerve to tell me to wait!?_ Sakura yelled in her head.

**Look, don't take it out on me. Besides you know as well as I do that you would wait forever, **the inner responded to the outrage of her outerself.

_How long?_

**I don't know, but what else is there to do?**

_He said he couldn't come back, why the change of mind?_

**I highly doubt it has to do with his mind and I don't go around trying to understand what goes though Sasuke's head. It's frightening territory.**

_What about Orochimaru? He's back so what'll he do to Sasuke?_

**Sasuke may be a cold-hearted prick, but he's not a dumbass. He won't go to that freak ever again.**

During the conversion in her mind Sakura slowly fell into sleep.

* * *

"HEY, SAKURA!" was the cry that woke Sakura out of her dreamless sleep. She had just opened her eyes to see Naruto barging though the door. Sakura looked at the clock that was on the wall acrossed from her bed to see it was a quarter to seven in the morning.

"Naruto, not so loud. You'll wake the dead. What is it?" Sakura moaned turning over to face Naruto fully laying on her side. Her pink hair got in the way of seeing Naruto properly and all of his orange and black glory. Honestly the boy was wearing orange that stuck out like a sore thumb. He was asking to be a target, but knowing Naruto he did that on purpose, or was just unable to match colors.

"Granny Tsunade said you get out today so I came to pick you up," he smiled his signature smile. She couldn't help but smile back. Feeling warmed by the thought of Naruto coming to get her, she sat up and made ready to leave. As she walked by Naruto he had a strange sent to him.

"Naruto, are you wearing girls' perfume?" she asked sniffing Naruto's clothes. Naruto's face went up like the fourth of July. It really made her wonder what her best friend had been doing before he came here.

"Uh, well see, i-it was like this. I get to the, uh, um, ramen stand and Hinata was uh, eating miso ramen and, well she fell on me and I uh, caught her," Naruto stumbled out looking at the ground that seemed to be very entertaining to him at the moment. Sakura raised her eyebrows. It was not like Naruto to stumble over words or blush the shade of a tomato.

"And….," she prompted. Naruto's hands went to his pockets nervously. Sakura was starting to worry. "What'd you do with her?" He looked up at that.

"Nothing!" he denied sharply. "When I caught her I saw down her shirt a little and I ran away," he finally admitted shamefully. Sakura smiled trying so hard not to laugh. She could picture the scene.

"Well, at least you didn't get ramen stuck down her shirt," Sakura said trying to look at the bright side of the possible disasters that could have been a lot worse. Naruto's face blushed a million shades of red but he laughed anyways.

"Haha, yeah, that would have sucked," he laughed just as Lady Tsunade came in.

--

Fifteen minutes later Sakura was getting out of a nice hot relaxing shower. She got dressed in her red jacket, shorts, and skirt then went out of her room and down the hall of her apartment. In the kitchen she fixed herself some green tea and hopped up on the counter leaning her head against the cabinets behind her.

There was one thing on her mind. Sasuke. Why did he change his mind about coming back? Was it something she said? Is he going to kill his brother soon? Is he on Itachi's trail? So many questions left unanswered. Stupid Sasuke. After all these years he still did this to her. Made her worry, made her restless, made her uneasy. It's not fair. A beeping interrupted her thought process and she was forced to look at who was paging her. Upon looking a the screen she had the most surprise look on her face.

Master Tsunade, was what it read. Putting her finished cup in the sink she grabbed her weapon holster and wrapped it to her thigh. She went out the door and locked it behind her then ran roof top style to the Hokage tower. At the door she knocked.

"Come in," the voice said. Sakura pushed open the door to see the Lady Hokage actually doing work. Sakura wondered how much Tsunade had to drink.

"You paged me," Sakura said closing the door and walking farther in the room. The fifth looked up from the multiple seas of paper work. It made Sakura glad she wasn't Hokage and head Medic.

"Sakura, I know you just got out from the hospital, but I need you for a mission," she said clasping her hands in front of her face. Sakura stood up straighter.

"Alright, what are the details?" she accepted. The Hokage spoke fast.

"The Akatsuki are quiet. To quiet for my liking. There is an informant that was recently discovered by Jiriya and we need someone to get the information he has and do it discreetly. He was last seen in the land of the Lightening. That's were you'll start: the Village hidden in the Clouds. Any questions?" Tsunade explained. Sakura had one.

"Is it a solo mission?" she asked. Tsunade nodded her confirmation.

"I'm worried that they're getting ready to attack Konoha in search of Naruto and with the added threat of Orochimaru I want to know what the Akatsuki are doing and I want to know now before someone has to die," Tsunade expressed. Sakura had been worried too. It's not like the Akatsuki to not be seen for months, unless they're planning something. It made Sakura worry for Naruto's sake.

"I accept," Sakura answered. To that statement Tsunade threw a scroll to her and dismissed her. Sakura was right at the door when she couldn't resist teasing Naruto about Hinata.

"Tsunade, if I were you, I'd have 'the talk' with Naruto," she said over her shoulder. Tsunade's brow furrowed but said nothing as Sakura left the room.

--

The next morning Sakura was in the Village hidden in the Clouds. To look like a seventeen year-old civilian she had a ruffily moss green skirt and a light green top. Her headband was in her backpack that was swung around her shoulders. As she looked around the busy village reminded her of the Land of Waves. She had had a mission there with Naruto a few months back and saw that it had changed to poor people on the street to a modern town. The Great Naruto Bridge was still standing.

Sakura figured it wouldn't be all that bad. She walked through the sea of people to find a cheap motel. It didn't take long, she found one within two minutes, right in the heart of town. She walked in to the modest looking place and up to the clerk.

"I need a single for one night," Sakura requested at the young looking clerk. At her voice he looked up, then slid his gaze down what part of her body he could see. It made Sakura shudder in disgust.

He smiled at her in a way that made her thoroughly uncomfortable. "Take room 18." He made it so their hands brushed one an other's. She drew back with the key and laid the money on the table. Then hightailed it to the said room.

The room was plain enough. Off white walls, a bed, a table, mini-fridge, and a phone all in one room. She sat her pack down by the bed while she sat on the bed. Taking out the information scroll she skimmed over some of the hot spots he likes to hit in this town. She looked at his picture noticing that he was pretty cute.

His hair was blonde and he had the lightest of eyes. The scroll said he was 5' 11" so he was pretty tall too. There wasn't much information on the guy, it didn't even have his name. But all the same, she put on a black tank top with a red cherry blossom on it and tight faded blue jeans. For her feet she donned black kitten heels. Looking over at the time Sakura realized the sun had set and it was time to get to work finding this guy in this village.

Five clubs. That's how many places she went to and she still had seven more to go. She was going to strangle the informant if he ended up in the last club. Her feet felt like they were bleeding and the May weather breeze felt good on her hot skin.

She noticed her next club through a small ally way and decided to go through it instead of going around the block. Muggers be damned. The ally was only light by the neon pink and red sign of the club. It gave the whole road an eerie glow. She was about to come out on the other side but a hand grabbed her waist. Another went to her mouth with some kind of cloth.

The cloth had been soaked in some sort of sleeping aid. Sakura noticed this immediately, but felt all her strength leave her and she fell into a black void not knowing when she was going to get out of it.

* * *

**Sasuke:** when do I come in?

**Me:** WTF?!

**Sasuke:** Answer me, damn it!

**Me:** when do you think?

**Sasuke:** ...

**Me:** Asshole.

**Sasuke:** glare

**Me: **why would I give that away?

**Sasuke:** cause I'm sexy.

**Sakura:** no you're not, you prick.

**Sasuke:** yes i am. you just want my body.

**Sakura:** oh, yeah(scarcaism). hard hot and heavey every night.

**Me:** we so don't want to hear this.

**Naruto: **i wanna hear this.

**Sasuke, Sakura:** 0.0

**Me: **no! sasuke, get back to where i put you. sakura, get back to getting kiddnapped. and naruto, do whatever it is that you do.

**Sasuke:** where'd you put me?

**Sakura: **who kiddnapped me?

**Naruto:** what do i do?

**Me:** Shut up, all of you!

**A/N: well I have everything pretty much mapped out but I'm a lazy bitch so the next chapter might take a little bit. But you should see it within a week, if not earlier. That purple button is calling you know, so answer it.**


	2. What do you want from me?

**A/N: chapter is out ;). I have nothing more to say, for once.**

_DRIP. DRIP. DRIP. _

That dripping noise was getting painfully irritating. There was one light, a torch on the wall. Sakura sat up, aware that she was no longer in a good place to be. Her eyes opened slowly. Looking around the room she noticed she was in a cell. A shitty one at that. The walls were of stone and there was nothing in there but a bed chained to the wall and a large bowl that Sakura didn't want to think about what it was used for.

She sat up noting that her side was a little tender. This was one time in her life that she felt like passing out and staying that way. Sadly, that didn't happen. She stood wobbly and clung to a wall. There were no chains that marred her wrists or ankles. Where ever she was, these people here are stupid. No door can keep her locked in if she didn't want to stay.

Regaining her balance she stepped slowly from the wall to the door. Standing in front of it, she had to say it looked pathetic. The wood was cracked and there was a small window in the middle of the door with rusted bars. Sakura smirked gathering chakra in her fist.

Something electrified her. It shot down her nervous system like boiling water to settle around her neck. Sakura fell to floor gasping for oxygen hand at her neck. She felt a choker and as she touched it, it continued to have lightening swirl around it, as if it fed off her chakra.

God, if she couldn't use her chakra what was she going to do? Punch the door regularly? Sure why not. Standing again Sakura prepared to bust out of this freaky ass, hellish place. She raised her fist and slammed to the door.

A barrier caught the punch. The force of her punch was given back to her ten fold. The force alone had Sakura sailing through the air and slammed into the opposite wall. She fell face down on the stone, choking on blood that was forced up to her mouth by her connection with wall. Her head was swimming and she swore she could see kunai going around her head in a circle.

"Now, now, my dear. You really shouldn't hurt yourself like that," the voice was slimy, slithering, and disgusting. It alone made her want to puke.

"Hey, did you hear?" Suigetsu asked Juugo sitting on the forest floor at the southern border of Fire Country. Team Hebi had set up camp for the night. Sasuke was sitting opposite them trying to get Karin off his arm. Juugo raised an eyebrow.

"Enlighten me," he requested looking a Suigetsu. The silver haired man smirked evilly.

"You know that girl studying under the Hokage?" he asked leaning over a bit more. Juugo nodded his head. Indeed, he had heard of her. It was said that she had unusual pink hair and could punch a crater in the ground the size of a wooded area.

"In that town we just visited I heard she was kidnapped," he finished off with his smirk growing.

"That's just gossip," Juugo reasoned. Surely the girl wouldn't be an easy target. Though if she had been kidnapped then someone powerful would have to be the one to do it.

"I don't know, I heard it was Kabuto who did it," Suigetsu refused to look at Juugo's reasoning. Juugo couldn't help but be surprised. What would Orochimaru want with that girl? If he wanted her as bait then it was in vain. He knew that Sasuke wouldn't fall for a trap that easily. He wasn't stupid.

So what could Orochimaru gain from this?

Just feet from the two men, Sasuke had heard the entire conversion. At the mention of Sakura, Sasuke had used his sensitive hearing to catch everything they said. Trying to throw off Karin Sasuke had listened intently, his heart stopped beating for a second at the mention of her kidnap.

That made him uncomfortable and he tried to tune them out so his heart would calm down, but their voices wouldn't leave his brain as they went on. The mention of Kabuto made him stiffen. If Kabuto even thought about _touching_ Sakura he would personally rip him to shreds and feed him to hungry dogs. Though Sasuke dismissed that saying it didn't have anything to with Sakura. He just never liked the guy to begin with.

**So why did you tell her to wait for you and that you love her? **a voice sounded in his head.

_Did I say that?_ he asked back. He remembered saying it, but he only said it because it slipped out. He hadn't meant to say that he loved her, though he was going to come back. He wanted to be back now but the shadow of Itachi loomed over him, engulfing all of his body.

**Don't play stupid. It slipped out because that was what you felt. And the only reason you want to go home is because she's there. The dobe is just an added annoyance, I mean bonus,** the voice, that was starting to sound a lot like himself, told him.

_Do I even know how to feel the emotion? _Sasuke asked sarcastically.

**Yes, you prick,** it sounded agitated. **Damn it, we've been though this before!**

_I know but pissing you off is always the highlight of my day, _Sasuke said deadpanned. They had been through this before. Many times, in fact. But Sasuke just seemed to doubt that he could love. Much less Sakura, the annoying pink haired girl he felt the need to protect when they were younger.

It bothered him, the feeling of loss he felt as he knocked her out, twice. The loneliness that he felt when he couldn't hear the dobe screaming in his ear and Sakura yelling at him. The empty feeling he got when he thought of home. He wanted to go back. But it'd take the torture of Ibiki for ten years before he admitted that he had dreams of a life with Sakura, missed the fathering nature of Kakashi and wanted to call Naruto a dobe just to call him a dobe on friendly terms.

_What's the point in hating Sakura when I feel like this, and when that hate can be directed at Itachi and Orochimaru._

But it brought him back to the question at hand. What did Orochimaru want with Sakura? He wouldn't fall into a trap so easily, even if he did go after Sakura. So what in hell is this snake freak planning to do with her? The thought made him recoil in disgust. First thing in the morning was to figure out if this rumor was true. And he had the sinking feeling that it was. If it was, then that pedophile bastard had a one-way ticket to hell.

Sakura got into a sitting position to look the snake sanin in the face. The sadistic smile he wore was just about to make her shit her pants. She swallowed in fear but she hoped she didn't look like scared little puppy.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded, hoping her voice didn't sound as shaky to him as it did to her. The sick smile seemed to grow wider on his disgustingly pale face.

"Just bait, my little Sakura-chan," he said in girl voice he seemed to have. It made her slightly back away, but she looked up defiantly refusing to let him see that she was scared.

"That's Ms. Haruno to you asshole. What am I bait for?" she spat out. How Sasuke could stand three years with this creep she'll never know, but three minutes was her limit.

"Such colorful language, Sakura-chan. Just know that you're here as long as you're needed. Once you've outlasted you're purpose, you'll no longer be breathing," he smiled as he walked away. Involuntarily Sakura shivered. God only knows what she was bait for. If it was for Sasuke, how would he have know what happened between them in the forest? That seemed like forever ago and not three or four days ago. If it was for Naruto, then Sakura wanted to know what he planned to do with Naruto. Give him to the Akatsuki? Take the nine tails power for himself? She shuddered at the thought.

Though for now, it seemed like she was stuck in here.

"Do you really think this will work?" a man questioned from the shadows. The sadistic smile never left the sanin's face.

"Yes, the fox demon will come after the girl, you'll go after the fox demon and Sasuke will come after you," he explained. The male in the shadows wasn't convinced that this would work.

"A long shot, don't you think?" the man said, clearly not buying a thing. The snake put his elbows on the desk and crossed his fingers.

"Unfortunately, Itachi, it is the only plan I have to go on, and if Sasuke comes and refuses to join our ranks again, then I'll have to use the girl," the smile faltered off Orochimaru's face as he said this.

"This base is known for destroying the essence of Shinobi that do not bare a cures mark, is it not?" Itachi asked going deeper to the shadows.

"It is. My, Itachi, are you worried for the girl?" the smile coming back into play. Itachi narrowed his eyes to mere slits in a rush of anger and hatred he felt for this legendary snake sanin.

"To the contrary, do what you want with her. However, if the girl dies because of this place, you'll no longer have any blackmail to hold my little brother to you. And then he will be after me again, and that is most annoying," Itachi explained. He didn't need his little brother out for his puny revenge that he would never get. He needed the fox demon's power soon, otherwise he had no chance of becoming the leader of the Akatsuki.

"Don't worry, I have my own way to see to it that she stays alive, for now at least. Once I have Sasuke's body, I'll kill the girl or maybe give her to the ninja. They've been dying for a new play thing," that smile grew wider on Orochimaru's face. It even made a little freaked out. Feeling their conversation done, Itachi left the study of Orochimaru in a poof.

She was two hours late. Sakura was never late. Always right on time or early. But she's late. That wasn't like her. She left two days ago. It doesn't take that long to get information out of a drunk guy. But she's late.

Tsunade paced behind her desk. She stopped and looked out the window. The midnight sky was cloudless. Every star in the heavens shining bright. The moon but a crescent in the black velvet. Tsunade scowled at it. The heavens were mocking her.

Something was wrong, she knew. It was gut feeling but she knew something bad happened to Sakura. She would have told her parents to stay up and check for her if she came home before coming to hand in her report, but they were on vacation near the Village hidden in the Mist. So it would be impossible to know if Sakura was home before she came here.

She didn't want to worry Naruto. The Akatsuki could be planning something and Tsunade would not have Naruto in the thicket of it all. She was fond of the little knucklehead, always saying he was going to be Hokage. Tsunade just might consider him for Hokage as all this paperwork was boring.

If Sakura wasn't back within 18 hours, she was sending a team to find her. Naruto would never have to know.

**A/N: this chapter is short and I wanted to make it longer but I want stuff for the next chapter too, which I have no clue what will happen in that chapter but it'll come to me.**

**Sasuke:** your such a loser.

**Me: **take it back glares

**Sasuke:** Sticks out tongue

**Me:** fine, then I'll just make you wear pink for the rest of the story.

**Sasuke:** you wouldn't dare glare

**Me:** oh yeah? Watch me, and I'll turn you gay.

**Sasuke:** you can't. this is a sasu/saku story, loser.

**Sakura:** NO ONE IS MAKING SASUKE GAY. HE'S TOO HOT FOR THAT!

**Me:** fine, I won't make him gay. Yet.

**Sasuke: **damn it, someone defend my masculinity!

**Me: **what masculinity?

**Sakura:** I am defending it slaps Sasuke. turns to me shut UP! scary face

**Me:** okay.backs away

**END OF CHAPTER**

Review, please.


	3. I'm going after her

_**A/N: I really wanted to make the last chapter longer but I couldn't so….. damn. But I was at the park last night and I was outlining the story better because I wasn't planning on turning the first story I did into a continued story. And my mom had to look for me because I was out so late. I would have gone home eventually. But when you think about what you can do with a story, it's very time consuming. That and I didn't want to go home. Anyway the chapter is here.**_

_**Disclaimer:**__ the day I own Naruto is the day someone's butt gets shaved and the old dumbasses at the world council give us world peace. damn, I'll never own Naruto then. _

_It was six a.m. Tsunade couldn't wait 18 hours for Sakura to come back. She checked Sakura's house, Naruto's house(while not waking Naruto), her parents' house, the hospital, Kakashi's place, even Sai's place. Nothing. So Tsunade had called in a team to search for her. Tsunade checked the clock in her office. Any minute and the three man team would come through the door._

_Almost as if on cue a knock sounded at the door. Tsunade let out a sigh of relief. She was so tense._

"_Come in," she commanded. The door clicked open and Tsunade eyed the three ninja. Neji, Shikamaru, and Lee stood before her all slightly drowsy._

"_You summoned us, Lady Tsunade," the Hyuuga announced from the left side of Lee. Tsunade nodded._

"_I did. Sakura had mission of recon, she's eight hours late. That's not like her, I want you three to pick up her trail and find her," she explained._

"_This is such a drag, she's only eight hours late. Maybe she got hung up on something," the Nara suggested with his head slightly tilted. He just wanted to go back to sleep as soon as possible._

"_You know as well as I do that Sakura is never late. I sent her on a mission to gather information on the Akatsuki and with the added threat of Orochimaru out there I don't want to think about what's happened to her," the reply was sharper than Tenten's weapons._

"_Don't worry Lady Tsunade, if anything happened to Sakura, we will figure it out and bring her back here," Lee said nodding his head, flashing a blinding smile at six a.m._

"_Good, I want you to leave as soon as humanly possible and make sure to not let Naruto what's going on. This scroll has everything you'll need for this mission," she tossed the scroll to Lee who was in the middle. She made the gesture for them to leave but Neji didn't move. Neither did Shikamaru or Lee._

"_If I may ask, why is Naruto not allowed to know anything?" the Hyuuga asked politely. __Damn, sharp as ever, huh, Hyuuga, _she thought. The other two nodded their heads in agreement.

"The Akatsuki have been quiet and I think they're planning something. I would prefer Naruto to not know that Sakura is missing because he'll be an idiot and go off looking for her saying 'Akatsuki be damned'," she answered quickly wanting them to leave, now.

"But Naruto will notice Sakura gone eventually," Lee reasoned. Tsunade gave him the 'duh' expression, then narrowed her amber eyes.

"Of course, which is why I want you to leave. Now!" Tsunade took a bottle of sake and threw it, hoping they'd get the picture. The bottle wasn't aimed anywhere in particular but it was headed for Shikamaru. On reflex he threw up his hand and the bottle hit the ceiling or the vent to be more specific.

The bottle crashed down on the floor as did a very surprised Naruto. The room was silent as they watched Naruto get up and glare at Tsunade. She glared back. A battle of blue and amber.

"Why are you in my office?" she bit out through her teeth. Naruto crossed his arms acrossed his orange and black clad chest.

"Why aren't you telling me when my friend is missing?" he countered uncharacteristically mad. _If Sakura's missing I'll be damned if I'm staying here,_ he thought viciously.

"Because, the Akatsuki will find you if you go out half-cocked to look for her and I won't let that happen," Tsunade declared. If possible Naruto looked even more defiant.

"So you're willing to risk Sakura's life to gather information on the Akatsuki, but not mine on finding her?" he asked a little sarcastic.

"Naruto, that's not fair and you know it. The Akatsuki aren't after Sakura, they're after you. Get that threw your damn thick skull," Tsunade was on the verge of shouting. God, why can't this kid understand? 

"I'm going after her," Naruto declared. Tsunade slammed her hands on the desk and stood.

"Like _hell_ you are!" she shouted waking most of Konoha. Naruto was about to shout back but they were interrupted.

"Let him go, Lady Hokage," Shikamaru said. "The faster we get out of here the faster we find Sakura."

"But--," Tsunade was cut off.

"If we meet the Akatsuki, we'll run. But I agree with Shikamaru," Neji cut off. Tsunade looked at Lee. He nodded. Defeated and out numbered, she sat down.

"Fine," she allowed. 

"YEAH!" Naruto shouted waking the rest of Konoha that wasn't already awake. 

"Leave and if Naruto isn't in one piece and Sakura's not here, I'll have all your heads," Tsunade threatened, then dismissed them. They walked out, Naruto grinning like an idiot, Shikamaru yawning, Neji as stoic as ever, and Lee jumping for joy at the thrill of talking to Sakura again. 

Shikamaru, Neji, and Lee filed out the door. Naruto stopped hanging against the door frame. Still leaning on it, he turned to Tsunade. She looked up, feeling someone staring at her. There she found Naruto, grin in place while those crystal blue eyes danced with mischief.

"Akatsuki be damned," he told her then walked out, shutting her door. Tsunade couldn't fight the affectionate smile that hit her face. She ran a hand throw her light blonde hair.

"Baka," was the only word that she had for him. _Maybe I will put him down for the sixth Hokage_, she thought before taking out a bottle of sake from her desk drawer. She should have Shizune clean up the sake that was still on the floor.

The dawn was fast approaching and the sun was ball of orange hanging over the horizon. The Yurihakudo village neighboring the Village Hidden in the Sand was starting to become restless. Their work started at sunrise only to end at sunset. This was the village Sasuke wanted for information. It didn't matter to him how he got it, but he wanted it. Bad.

He had left team Hebi behind, thinking that they'd slow him down. They probably would with the information he wanted. Granted he could get information out of Suigetsu but what came out of his mouth was speculation only. Sasuke couldn't go after Sakura on speculation only. He wanted cold hard facts and he wanted them now. 

Even though the sun had barely risen, the heat of this small town was suffocating. Sasuke walked through the main road with no disguise. It didn't matter to him who saw him. If fact he welcomed the challenge if anyone dared to. So as he walked down the poor village's main road there were stares and whispers of every sort going around. 

Sasuke knew to hit the tavern first, as was were almost all gossip was bound to be talked about. And since his subject was of recent interest he figured he'd have no problem with getting the answers he was craving at that point. Though no one else knew, Sakura was Sasuke's. She belonged to him and he'd be damned if someone kidnapped her and got away with it. Especially if it was Orochimaru. If Sasuke knew anything, it was that the bastard was going to die whether or not he ordered the kidnap on Sakura.

He walked up to the dingy looking place. The dark paint was peeling off and a window to the right of the door looked like it had seen one too many brawls. The western style tavern did not surprise Sasuke in the least. But he did privately think to himself that it needed one hell of a paint job.

Walking in, he looked around. Most of the inhabitants were drunk already and a good thing for Sasuke was that most of them looked like travelers. He knew he'd find the answers he was looking for. After taking in the dirty interior, Sasuke strutted to the open bar setting his sights on a redheaded target to get information from. In Sasuke's opinion she looked like a tavern whore, too much make-up and the clothes on her body really couldn't be considered clothes. But this did nothing to deter from questioning her.

He ordered a drink of whiskey, though had no intention of drinking it. The order got the attention of the redhead beside him. Looking at her through the side of eyes he could see her look her way up and down his male frame. He inwardly cringed. God only knows how many time some chick undressed him with her eyes.

"Yes?" Sasuke questioned fully looking at her as his drink was set down in front of him. She looked at his drink then to him with a sexual intent that he would have sworn Sakura would have been able to feel. 

"I like guy's who like their drinks hard and straight," she smirked trying to look like a vixen. Attempt failed, but he played along anyway.

"Yeah? Any thing else you like?" he question giving her a fake sexual look. She looked him up and down again.

"Many," she said suggestively. His eyebrows raised.

"What's going on with town? I would think it'd be bigger," he told her changing the subject, but emphasized the word 'bigger', so she'd get the hint. She smiled.

"Yeah, Orochimaru tore the place up," she said using emphasis on the words 'tore' and 'up'. He took the hint that she was still taking about sex.

"I heard he kidnapped some chick," he tried very hard to make it sound suggestive. It barely came out that way. The redhead's smile faded to a look of envy.

"Yeah he did. My brother works for Orochimaru, he saw her come in," she summarized. 

"What's she there for?" he asked intently. It didn't take him as long as he thought to get her to talk. 

"I don't know. I heard she was being kept in place outside of the Land of the Clouds," the girl said tilting her head. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm going after her," Sasuke said taking out a needle with a memory eraser that he stuck in her arm. Her eyes widen then shrinked back to normal, then closed slowly. Her head fell on the table as the drug was working its way to her brain. The bartender looked over strangely at the two. Sasuke openly glared. Giving no explanation he walked out to gather his stuff and take a trip to Cloud to find out what the hell was going on.

--

The team had woken up to find Sasuke gone and when Sasuke came back Karin launched at him like leech for blood. She grabbed his arm and rubbed against him.

"Sasuke-kun, I've missed you," she cooed. He didn't spare her a glance. Shoving her off, Sasuke collected his katana. Then turned to his team.

"I'll be gone for a while, but I'll be back. Just don't draw attention or do anything stupid," he warned. Then with no questions from Suigetsu and Juugo he turned to go. Something grabbed him from behind pissing him off.

"Where are you going? It's not about what Suigetsu and Juugo were talking about last night, was it?" she asked. The Uchiha took as threat.

"So what if it is?" he softly warned. She didn't get the hint.

"What's she got to do with you now? You gave up all ties, right?" she asked slowly knowing she was treading on uneven ground.

"She's my fiancé," with that statement he disappeared, leaving a stunned Karin, open mouthed Suigetsu and a snickering Juugo.

Sakura was feeling a little run down. Granted, she was in a God forbidden place with a wannabe mad scientist and a sadistic pedophile. She stood, but held the dirty feeling stone to steady herself. The dizziness set in about an hour ago. She figured it was too many hits to the head with a blunt object.

She made her way to the door, careful not to touch it. She didn't need a repeat of the last time she made the mistake to punch the thing. Looking out the window installed in the door, through the bars she saw plain looking hallway. It disappeared into nothingness as she looked farther out. 

"Damn," she cursed lightly. This was one hell of a mess she was in. What the hell bait she was being used for, didn't matter. What did matter was that she had a limited amount of time to live, because she believed in Orochimaru's threats to kill her. It wouldn't be the first time. 

Now if only she could get out of this damn place. The plan was formulating in her brain at the moment and she was going over all possible outcomes. Some didn't look that great.

The sun was high in the sky, but the tree cover provided a cooling breeze. From what Neji could see of the sun he estimated it to be around eleven in the morning. Traveling non-stop since six thirty was starting to take a toll on his teammates bodies. Even Lee could be seen panting a little. But in another fifteen or so minutes they would be at the town near the Village hidden in the Clouds, where Sakura was last heard from.

"Neji, we should rest, since we're almost there. Then we can search all night for leads on Sakura," Shikamaru said with the laziness he was infamous for. 

"Yes, I agree, if anyone knows anything about our little cherry blossom, they will be out at night in the bars," Lee seconded the notion. Neji was all for stopping to rest but he looked at Naruto. He was quiet, for once and it was starting to bug Neji even more than when Naruto would talk. Naruto being quiet….. it just didn't happen. Like Gai and Lee not hugging for a day and setting off into a fake sunset….. it just didn't happen. All Neji got was a nod from Naruto, so he gracefully landed on the leaf blanketed floor followed by Lee, Naruto and Shikamaru.

They took off their packs and sat down. With the exception of Naruto; he put his pack down and left the rest of his team for a little walk on his own. Tired of staying on his feet, Naruto took to a tree and sat down on a branch. He made sure he wasn't far from the team but far enough to were he could be left alone.

He was worried about Sakura. _She's okay, nothing bad will happen. I hope._

**Well she did have teme's scent on her when we came back from the recon mission a few days ago, **this little voice in his head told him.

_She wouldn't fake kidnapping just to be with Sasuke. It's just not her._

**So then, if that didn't happen why would someone kidnap Sakura,** it cooed.

_Plenty reasons, one, she's a strong kunoichi, two, she's my friend and the Akatsuki can lure me by her, or three, she ran away. _

At the last thought Naruto shook his head. Sakura wouldn't do that. He knew that, but what scared him is that he didn't know who would kidnap Sakura, just like that. His sisterly friend was in danger and wanted her out of it. Now.

The Kyuubi's chakra flared for reason Naruto couldn't find. Then instinct took over and Naruto accepted the burst of power. But now he could detect something he couldn't before. Something dark, sinister, clouded, but not evil. It was as familiar to Naruto as breathing. Sasuke. 

Naruto followed the chakra signature. It was moving at high speed, something only Lee could achieve. The direction it was headed was to the exact same town that Naruto was headed. Naruto grinned to himself.

_I'll find you, Sasuke. And I know you'll find me._

As soon as the thought was over, he heard Lee shouting that it was time to begin the youthful search of the cherry blossom. He hopped off the tree and made his way to his teammates.

_What are you doing without your posse, teme? Why leave them behind while Itachi's alive?_

**Yeah, well I hope you like it. It took awhile to figure out what I was going to do with the naruto traveling part. So did I do good. **_**REVIEW.**_

**Adios.**


	4. Sasuke found

**Oh my god wow, I'm so sorry for the underlining of the last chapter. I just wanted to get it up as soon as possible. Sorry. My bad. Anyways the last chapter was a little longer. Yay. And then I found out that the line breaks weren't there. So I'm sorry for that too. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the manga of anime and if I did Karin wouldn't be in the fucking story line. **

* * *

This town reminded Naruto of the land of Waves. It was small but busy even at night. They had spend most of the day in their hotel room, resting up. Yurihakudo was a seriously prosperous town. Even though this town wasn't that big, it lit up like a fireworks parade. Every street sign was glowing, all the lights were on to welcome customers, and the aroma of the town made Naruto's mouth water. But he couldn't think about food right now. He needed to find Sakura, not to mention Sasuke.

"Let's check the hotels first, see if they saw a girl check in," Neji suggested. It was obvious that the kidnapper didn't kidnap her a her hotel room, otherwise there would be a hole in one of the inns' walls. So Neji came up with the next best thing.

"We should split up, there's no danger around here and we'll cover more ground in less time," Shikamaru added to the plan. Neji nodded and looked at the other team members, they nodded as well. "Right, Neji take the north east part, Lee take the north west part, Naruto, you take the south east part, and I'll take the south west part, understand?"

"Hai," then puffs of smoke were all that was left in the middle of the street, being swept away by the wind.

--

The south east part of town just so happened to be the freaking red light distract. From where Naruto was walking down the street, women in brothel's called out to him for a 'fun night'. It made Naruto shiver in disgust and you could see the comical expression on his green face.

When the first hotel had come in sight, Naruto thought it was a hotel. Too bad for him it turned out to be dominatrix house and all the girls thought he was so cute that they wanted to show him what a 'real woman' was. Naruto ran so fast his shadow couldn't keep up with him. So from now on Naruto picked hotel looking buildings a lot more carefully. Just in case he was jumped by girls again.

His jacket was ripped in several places and there was scratch on his left check with lipstick residue on the other. His pants were scuffed up and also ripped in many places. The sad part was, was that this was Naruto's favorite jacket. He walked on mourning the loss of his jacket and he wondered if Hinata could fix it up for him. The thought made his face heat a little.

As he walked on, he subconsciously noticed that he was outside the red light distract and was coming to the center of town. There he found a hotel looking building and he kept starring at it like an idiot. He was hesitant to go in, but he figured that he could keep by the door in case anyone was going to try to jump him.

So walking into the little plain place the bell above the door gave ring. Looking around, the lobby was homey with the light blue coloring and dark blue carpeting.

_I wonder if that carpet comes in orange. I gotta get the name of their hotel decorator._

Pushing that thought away for now he looked up at the clerk. He was a little older than Naruto but Naruto was taller by few inches.

"Need a room?" the man asked pleasantly. Naruto looked at him and walked up to the counter leaning on it.

"No, but I do need to know if a girl about my age with pink hair came for a room two days ago," Naruto asked a returning question. The man shook his head.

"That's confidential, sir, I can't give out that information," he said. Naruto grimaced, this was the last hotel in his area to search and he wanted a freaking answer. So he took out a kunai pointing it lethally at the man behind the desk.

"'Confidential' can bite me, I want to know if she was here," he said lowly and dangerously so this man would tell him were to go. The man looked at the knife and then back to the man holding it.

"R-room 18," he finally managed to spit out before running into, what Naruto thought was, a staff lounge. Then chakra suddenly pricked through the air, and if that didn't clue you in then the creepy presence behind Naruto was enough.

"What are you looking for, teme?" the blonde asked turning around to see the Uchiha's expressionless as per usual. At the question the said man narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I could ask you the same thing, dobe," Sasuke countered. _Damn it, why didn't I sense for chakra before I came in here. _But it was too late now, Naruto saw him and there was no escaping a heated discussion. At Sasuke's comment, Naruto looked pissed and sad at the same time. _He's trying to find Sakura. Idiot, doesn't he know the Akatsuki want to skin him alive._

"I doubt you'd care, teme," the Uzumaki returned looking slightly dejected. Sasuke felt a pang of guilt but it passed quickly. He regretted nothing that he's done.

"Probably, but say it anyway, I'm sure I'm not going to leave this place without hearing it anyway," Sasuke said leaning on the wall beside the door.

"Sakura's been kidnapped," Naruto said. He was slightly amazed at what Sasuke said but reminded himself that his scent was all over Sakura after the mission and if he did anything to hurt her again that he was going to have him hung, drawn, and quartered. A little old style but Naruto could live with it.

"So I've heard, stop looking at me like that, dobe," Sasuke sounded irritated and Naruto was unconsciously glaring at Sasuke. Upon hearing Sasuke say that he heard about Sakura, he, as always, jumped to conclusions. Even if they were right.

"Wait, so, you're looking for her too?" Naruto was stunned at the assumption but couldn't help hoping it was true.

"Hn," was the response. Grinning, Naruto walked up to Sasuke, but when he got there the grin turned to a look of seriousness.

"What did you do to her the last time you two saw each other?" Naruto asked in all seriousness.

"Nothing she didn't want me to," Sasuke said. The time came back to him and he inwardly shivered at how she felt pressed against him.

"She still loves you," Naruto said it with more intensity than he meant, but at the moment he didn't care. Naruto wanted Sasuke to know what would happen if he broke Sakura's heart. Again.

"I know," that was all he could say. Sasuke was not going to confess his feelings to the dobe, he barely confessed them to himself and he was not saying anything that might send everything to hell. He had his Uchiha pride to take care of after all.

"Teme, so help me God, if you do anything to her--" he was cut off.

"Dobe, shut up. I don't intend on doing anything that your thinking of," he cut in the Naruto rant. Sasuke knew from experience that those could last forever. Naruto brightened up now that he had Sasuke's word.

"So, you going to come look for her?" he asked with the idiotic grin in place. Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"I already know where she is, dobe, I'm just resting here that way I won't be tired when I get her," Sasuke told him. He was an Uchiha but he got wiped out. From Sand to Cloud wasn't easy or a piece of cake.

"You do? Then why are we hear, teme, let's go," Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him down the hall to room 18. The hotel clerk didn't give him a key so he kicked the door down and stepped in dragging a pissed off looking Sasuke in tow. Once in the room Naruto let Sasuke go and looked around.

"Her pack is still here," he said noticing a tannish looking pack by the bed. He crossed the plain looking room and picked it up. "Most of her weapons are here too."

"Hn," Sasuke couldn't care less what she left here. There was no left over chakra present so she wasn't kidnapped here.

"You don't think she'd run away, do you?" Naruto voiced his concern as it was bugging him to get someone's opinion.

"No, she doesn't run away," Sasuke put simply. But he knew she didn't run away, nothing could possess her to do that.

_Take me with you._

Those words accompanied that thought. She would run away, but she would run away to him. But, if that was the reason then she would have found him already.

"Yeah, there's nothing else here. Come on," Naruto said. For the first time in his life Sasuke followed Naruto. When they were out on the street Sasuke laid down his law.

"I'm not joining what ever team your on," Sasuke bluntly said to get it out in the open. Naruto pouted like a little kid.

"Why not, teme?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because you'll slow me down," Sasuke also crossed his arms acrossed his chest. The two 'men' stood there glaring in a blue and black battle. Passersby thought that one or both of them would end up black and blue before someone intervened.

"How so, teme? You don't know how much stronger I've gotten. I could kick your ass in a heartbeat," the blonde boasted. Sasuke smirked. Out of all the fights he had, the fun fights were with Naruto.

"Wanna bet?" the Uchiha challenged. They got in fighting stance, ready to pummel the shit out of each other.

"Stop fighting. It's such a drag," a voice broke through the excitement fog of a fight.(A/N: take your best guess!) Naruto looked up to see Shikamaru crouching on the roof a tea shop to his right. He relaxed as Shikamaru jumped down and looked at Sasuke. "What are you doing out here?"

Naruto jumped in before Sasuke could get his answer in. If he intended to answer, that is.

"He's looking for Sakura too, so he can come with us," Naruto rushed out. The Uchiha glared at him, Naruto ignored it. Shikamaru looked like he was considering it.

"Dobe, I said I wasn't going with you," a pissed off Sasuke said through his teeth. Shikamaru looked back up from thinking.

"I think it's a good idea," Shikamaru said not listening to what Sasuke said.

"No. Absolutely not," Neji appeared in a poof glaring with the Byakugan. The reflex was to turn on the Sharingan, which Sasuke did. Both glared so many daggers that Tenten would be overwhelmed with the amount. _If looks could kill,_ Shikamaru thought to himself not really feeling like voicing his thoughts. So he voiced a fact.

"If Sasuke came with us, we wouldn't have to deal with Orochimaru, as he'd be too preoccupied with Sasuke so we could just grab Sakura and bring her back in one piece," was the fact and reason Shikamaru came up with. A wind picked up and with it bringing Lee. He heard Shikamaru's reason.

"Yes, then we could get to Sakura faster," Lee said. Neji would hear none of this.

"We are not having an S-class traitor join our ranks," he insisted.

"It's not like he's trying to make us join Sound. We should let him come with us," Shikamaru reasoned. Lee and Naruto nodded. Sasuke looked exasperated. If he tried to get rid of Naruto he'd waste time, but if he went with them they'd attract more attention than he wanted. It was more logical to go with them.

"I just don't trust him," Neji explained. Lee jumped in.

"You don't have to. He's a distraction and he'll part ways after this is over," Lee said.

"Yeah. Now, teme, where's Sakura?" Naruto asked turning his attention to Sasuke once more. Sasuke let out a mental sigh. When he said he was going after Sakura, he didn't think it'd be this much trouble.

"She's in a place outside the hidden village. I don't know anything else," he said monotoned.

"Well, that narrows it down, there's only one more town outside the village that he could be, then," Shikamaru concluded. Neji turned to the Uchiha.

"Don't you know where this base is?" Neji asked semi-sarcastic. Sasuke's eyes narrowed involuntarily.

"No, if I did, I'd be there by now," Sasuke said, more challenging the Hyuuga than anything else.

"So, she's near the town of Yasuki. There's not many places to have base, it should be easy to find," Lee said trying to keep some peace so Neji and Sasuke didn't kill each other.

"Let's go now," Shikamaru suggested. In a flash no one was on the street that they had just occupied.

* * *

Sakura felt like she was about to hurl. For the past hour she had been fighting wave after wave of nausea. Another round had just washed over her and she suppressed her vomit, only throwing up a little in the mouth. She tried to stand only to suffer from dizziness and sink back down the grungy walls of her cell.

God, what the hell kind of disease did she catch?!

**This is bullshit! The next time Orochimaru comes here I'm going to demand what the hell is happening to me, then kill him and Kabuto. **

_Yeah, that'd be a great idea…… if we could fucking stand up, _Sakura yelled at her inner.

**If we don't get out of here, we'll die. And not from starvation, **Inner Sakura said, a little on the desperate side.

_I will not die here, I refuse to die here, _Sakura thought, determination filling her sick and tired body.

**And you think I wanna die here? Fuck that,** Inner Sakura sounded out.

_Do you think Tsunade knows I'm gone? _Sakura asked her inner.

**Oh hell yes. We're never late, I'm sure she knows. Bad thing is, is that she doesn't know where to look, **Inner Sakura sounded positive on that note.

_Naruto?_

**Yep. I don't doubt the dobe is about to search and destroy,** Inner Sakura said nodded her imaginary head.

_Idiot. The Akatsuki are going to skin him alive, _Sakura worried.

**That's too scary a possibility to think about. What about Sasuke? Do think he knows where we are? **Inner Sakura asked.

_Maybe, but I doubt he heard that we're here, _Sakura sounded dejected.

There were footsteps coming from the hallway. Sakura's head went up to golden eyes that looked creepier the last time she saw them. Sakura suppressed a shiver. This man scared her and he dictated how long she would live. In her current state she couldn't fight him and win. Hell, she couldn't even stand.

"How's my favorite little cherry blossom?" Orochimaru asked. His tongue slid out of his mouth like snake before he laughed a little creepily. From her position sitting down she felt weak and a little frightened, but she refused to show it.

"How the hell do you think I am? What did you do to me?" she demanded answers. And by God, she would get them.

"I hope we're not getting too sick, I still need you to live," he smiled, making her involuntarily back up on her butt.

"Tell me what you did to me," she demanded again. Damn it, what did it take for a freaking straight answer?

"Sakura, you spoil my fun. Don't worry, if worst comes to worst then I'll slow down the process. I just wanted to make sure you were still alive," with that he turned and walled away. The footsteps he created fading, giving her an ominous feeling.

**Do you think he applies the purple eye shadow or is it on there permanently? **Inner Sakura wondered to herself.

_I, personally, can't see him standing in front of his mirror putting on make-up. So, I'm going to go with an 'I don't want to know', _Sakura said closing her eyes, as they were to heavy to keep open.

* * *

**A/N: that took forever. I was so worried about the Naruto and Sasuke meeting thing. I wanted Sasuke to join the team but I was like ' do it in a Sasuke way'. is that scene okay or totally not believable? Let me know by pressing the cut little button. And this is my longest chapter yet. Go me!**


	5. Deadly Base

_**A/N: to everyone who reviewed…….. I love you guys. You're the highlight of my day. And I was planning on getting this up earlier but, that's not what happened. But lucky me a few more days of school and I'm free for the whole summer, except June 15**__**th**__** to June 20**__**th**__**. I'm going to Ada, Ohio for music camp. 5 days of college like life. So great. And I won't update for those five days so the night before I leave I think I'll try to post two chapters. So you have something to remember me by. Hehehe.**_

_**Disclaimer: if you don't know by now that no one but Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto then get off this site.**_

_**For the rest of you, Enjoy.**_

The hard part about finding Sakura wasn't finding the city. It was midnight and the team of five had found Yasuki just fine. What the real problem was is finding anyone willing to talk. Threatening would have worked but Neji wanted to find her subtly. Or to take Orochimaru by surprise. 

And that was freaking hard. The drunks in the tavern wouldn't talk and neither would the prostitutes. That was saying something because most prostitutes took one look at hot guy and would spill their guts. Naruto, being the dobe, even went as far to say that they could have sex if she told him anything. That resulted in Shikamaru dragging Naruto by the ear, Neji looking slightly disturbed, Lee looking like the green beast he claimed, and Sasuke wondering how the dobe made it to Jonin level.

But either way it wasn't helping. And Yasuki was smaller than the pervious village, but no one seemed to know anything about Orochimaru and his cronies. That said the tension in the group, rather between Neji and Sasuke, seemed to go off the charts.

"Are you sure you're not leading us on a wild goose chase," Neji accused. They had stopped at club to rest for a little bit and they were listening to a lounge singer Naruto and Lee seemed to like. Shikamaru was asleep.

"If I was, I would have left you a long time ago," Sasuke countered. If Sasuke was trying to lead them on a goose chase he would have left the Hyuuga off a cliff somewhere never to be heard from again, not put up with all the shit he had to take.

"Not if it's a plan to kill us," Neji suspected.

"Look Hyuuga, if I was going to kill you, I would have done it already. I'm only here for Sakura and as soon as that's cleaned up then I'm out of here and you won't have to put up with me, get it?" Sasuke said darkly. When he went with Naruto he knew this would happen. Damn dobe.

Neji thought on that and decided to answer with a question of his own.

"What is she to you?" How many times did he have to explain it? Either way he was not going to tell the Hyuuga what he told team Hebi.

**Let me guess, that slipped out too?**

_Yes._

**That's bullshit. You've been dreaming about that ever since you left.**

_No, I haven't._

**You can't lie to your mind.**

_Then get out of my head._

**Can't do that , I'm here to make you face the truth, so just swallow the pride and say it.**

_I'd never say it to you._

**Damn, what is your problem?**

_I said it to her, I don't need to say it to you._

**Do you think Konoha will let you live long enough to pop the question.**

_Can I kill you? Slowly and painfully?_

"That doesn't matter now," he said, cryptically. Neji's eyes narrowed.

"It does to her," he said, taking a sip of his water.

"Then I'll tell her. I don't have to spill my whole life story to you," Sasuke ended the conversion with his tone. Neji had to admire him for that, not many people could do that and no one could do it if you were talking to Naruto. Speaking of Naruto he was talking about how good the singer was.

"Wow, I haven't heard voice like that since I walking in on Sakura singing in the shower," he said as the girl walked off stage. That was when Sasuke got a good look at her. She had purple hair and blue eyes, there was the way she walked that Sasuke recognized. He knew her from his days at Sound, her name was Kimasu. At least he thought that was what it was.

"She's from Sound," Sasuke announce. That woke Shikamaru up.

"Can you get information off her?" he asked one eye open laying back on the rounded seater they were on.

"Yes," was the short reply. Sasuke stood and followed her to her dressing room while the rest of the guys followed Sasuke.

The girl walked in a down and down the hall. She opened a door to the left at the end of the greyish looking hallway. The door closed and Sasuke and the group walked down. Not wasting time, Sasuke didn't knock on the door, but stepped right in to the brightly lit room with costumes and wigs and make-up scattered everywhere. The girl turned around, eyes wide at who coming through her door.

"L-Lord Uchiha," she stumbled out, bowing. Her wig fell off to reveal platinum blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. 

"I need information," Sasuke stated. The girl came up from the bow to look at him with shock on her face. Then more shock as she looked at his companions and there headbands.

"What ever I can do," she bowed again.

"A base. I need to know where there's a base around here," Sasuke got to the point. The faster Sakura got to the village, the faster he could kill Itachi and get back himself. The girl came up from her bow again.

"There's one about five miles east of here. It's underground, the only way in is through the only water fall around this area. The base is supposed to be a maze," she explained and cautioned.

"What traps are there?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know of any, my Lord," she said shaking her head. Sasuke could live with that. It didn't matter what traps Orochimaru set, because he could get through them all.

"You never saw me and we never had this conversion," Sasuke said backing out of the room. "And you never saw them."

The girl looked at the other four and nodded. The door slammed and they walked outside. Once outside Naruto started to bust out laughing. Party goers thought he was high on something, for Naruto though, that wouldn't be far off.

" L-L-Lord U-U-Uchiha," he managed to say in between laughs. He held his sides and laughed so hard he fell to his knees. Shikamaru thought, _What the hell is his problem? Did he smoke something while I was asleep?_

"Dobe, what's wrong with your brain?" Sasuke asked looking at a kneeling Naruto and poking him a little with his foot. Naruto finally managed to stop laughing and stand.

"Such youth," Lee muttered to himself.

"They actually called you that?" Naruto then preceded to laugh again, though not as hard as before. Sasuke scoffed at that.

"I didn't ask them to call me that," Sasuke retorted. Neji had had enough fooling around. They needed to get Sakura and back to the village before something bad happened.

"Naruto, get a hold of yourself. We need to go," Neji commanded. Chuckling to himself Naruto got up and dusted himself off. When that was done, the five took off running east.

Tsunade was sound asleep. Drunken sleep but sleep nonetheless. Since she had sent the team of four to go after Sakura she was edgy and more fiery than usual, not to mention a _much_ shorter fuse. To take off the edge, sake was turning out to be her best friend at the moment.

A knock sounded that Tsunade tried to ignore. It sounded again. She fought the layers of fog and rubbed her amber eyes to feel more awake. The knock sounded again, but more impatient. Tsunade scowled and wiped off the drool that surrounded her mouth.

"Come in," she sounded irritated herself. The intruder entered and was met with the evilest of glare. But since it was Jiriya he ignored her glare. "What do you want? Some information on the Akatsuki?"

Jiriya's face was sobered and didn't hold the perverted grin that usually accompanied his presence. He walked in and shut the door quietly. This made Tsunade wonder about him.

"Tsunade, I heard something very disturbing," he looked her in the eye and it didn't waver.

"I'm listening," she said with her hands folded in front of her face.

"I was doing recon on the Akatsuki, but I heard something about Orochimaru," he started.

"Go on," she urged.

"I heard that he had a new base," Jiraiya said, vaguely. Tsunade was confused.

"So, what does that matter? What about the Akatsuki?" she asked.

"The base is different. This one is more…deadly," he said finding the right word. Tsunade's eyebrows raised.

"All of them are deadly, Jiraiya. Get to the point," she commanded not wanting a guessing game.

"I don't know how, but this one sucks life essence," he said carefully. Tsunade was stunned to silence, Jiriya continued. "It's somewhere in Cloud, by the lightening village. It supposed to take away a shinobi's life energy, destroying them for the inside out. If a curse mark isn't placed on your body then this…jutsu will destroy you from the inside out. But the most disturbing part is that that base is the only base that hasn't been destroyed."

He finished grimly as Tsunade grasped the situation. Her eyes were wide as a realization came to her.

"I sent a team to a village near Cloud. They're good, they'll more that likely find this base. If that happens then they'll be like sitting ducks," she said more to herself. _Damn you, Orochimaru._

"No matter how strong they are, if they're there for even two hours, they'll feel their life energy slowly ebbing away. Who was on the team?" he asked.

"Nara, Lee, Hyuuga, and Naruto," she breathed. _DAMN!_ Tsunade slammed her palm on the desk, cracking it a little. "SHIZUNE!" the echo rumbled throughout tower. The said girl rushed in, in a hurry. "Shizune, send a message to Nara in Cloud. I want them to withdraw from the mission," she instantly barked at Shizune as she came into the room.

"W-Why, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked, confusion written on her forehead. Tsunade had no time for questions.

"Just do it," she commanded. The dark-haired lady bowed out of the room to go send the message by hawk. The door closed with a click. Tsunade got out of her seat and turned to look out the window. The night was heavy, no moon, no stars. Just black.

"Naruto won't back out if Sakura's at stake," Jiraiya stated the obvious. She knew that, hell the whole village knew that. But this time Naruto didn't have a choice but to back out.

"I know, but Naruto will back out of this one," Tsunade decreed not taking her eyes off the night. Jiraiya approached her from behind.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Jiraiya asked stopping about a foot from her. "Sakura could be dying and Naruto won't just stand by and let her get hurt. That's just how he is."

Tsunade smirked to herself but Jiraiya caught it in the reflection of the window. That was smirk she wore before she was about to beat him up. Or sweet talk him, then beat him up. Either way it was always painful for him. She turned around to face Jiraiya with the deadly grin.

"How do you feel about a Sanin reunion?" Tsunade asked evilly. Jiraiya smirked as well, liking her train of thought.

They both looked out the window after facing each other, both with their grins in place. This wasn't how it was going to be like the last time they faced off six years ago. This time Orochimaru would die once and for all. No 'if', 'and's', or 'but's' about it.

Orochimaru walked down a hallway lit only with torches. Then he a left and walked down the path of dark stone. This base was indeed a maze and he knew every trap and every corner by heart. His steps echoed and paid as much attention to that as he did to how he was walking.

Turning to the right, Orochimaru went to a door on the left. He entered the room only lit with a computer screen light and shut the door. Kabuto was typing something into the log and looked up a Orochimaru entering. He stopped typing, a worried expression on his face.

"How long do you intend for her to live?" he asked seriously, standing up straight. Orochimaru knew who he was talking about.

"For a while. Why?" he interrogated. Kabuto went back to the computer and pulled up a different window. Orochimaru slithered over to see what it contained. All there was, was a bunch of babble he didn't understand. It was Kabuto's to understand medical terms.

"Her vital point are being disintegrated far too fast for her to live more than about four days. If this keeps up then by tomorrow she won't be able to eat anything. You need to slow the jutsu down," Kabuto explained. Hmm, the cherry blossom did look a little too pale when he last saw her.

"How much of a slow down do I need for her to live a month?" he asked Kabuto looking at the words on the screen and trying to understand them, failing though.

"Slow it down ten fold, that should ensure that we get month and a half at most," Kabuto assured.

Orochimaru nodded and left the room. It took little more than five minutes to reach his office. He sat a the desk and leaned back.

"Yes, Itachi?" he asked a smirk forming on his face. The said man walked out of a shadow from the wall and stood in front of Orochimaru. Itachi didn't look amused.

"The fox is coming," Itachi stated. Orochimaru's eyebrows raised a little.

"You don't seen to happy about that, Itachi," he observed from his sitting position.

"My brother is with him," Itachi continued. Orochimaru's smirk grew.

"Then good news for me," he said, happily.

"Keep my little brother distracted. He can only mess up this mission to the fox boy," Itachi commanded.

"Itachi, it would be my pleasure," the Sanin reassured the Akatsuki member. With that said the man in the robe departed in a bunch of smoke. Orochimaru laughed sadistically.

"Time to take what is mine."

**Two weeks. It doesn't seem that long to me. But I hope you enjoyed it and review to tell me what you think. I don't like making Jiraiya all serious and stuff, but it was necessary. But did anyone watch the movie 'Sweeney Todd'? love that movie. Johnny Depp can act!**


	6. abort mission, escape

_**A/N: thanks to all of you who reviewed my song fanfic 'I will survive'. and for those of you who review the last chapter. And I have to make a shout out to TigerPriestess: you're review on 'I will survive' was so damn funny. I was laughing ten minutes even after I read it. And yes, in that fanfic Sasuke has a little stalker fetish, but Sakura still loves him. Amazing isn't it?**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but then again neither do you. HA!**_

_**Enjoy, lovelies.**_

The message was sent by hawk, it was faster than having a message man carry it and the hawk knew what to look for: Shikamaru's pineapple head. The hawk grazed the early morning sky. In a few hours the sun would be rising, but the hawk was flying under the last seeable stars. With its keen eyes the hawk spotted the ponytail sticking in the air and swooped down on the group of five.

Everyone stopped to listen to the call of the bird as it came on Shikamaru's shoulder. Sasuke was getting impatient, one more mile and they would be in the forest where the base was located but no, this hawk has to come and slow everything down. All on different tree branches, the other four watched Shikamaru read the scroll.

"Lady Hokage wants us to stand down and abort this mission," Shikamaru said with a look of wonder on his face. Naruto looked outraged. 

"WHAT?!" he screeched through the edge of the forest where they were at.

"She must have a good reason to abort this mission. Do you think she is going after Sakura herself?" Lee said looking at Shikamaru then to Neji.

"Does she give a reason?" Neji asked from the tallest branch of all of them. Shikamaru shook his head.

"Yes, the base will destroy the life essence of any shinobi without the curse mark. He uses it as a last resort. She wants us to go back to the Lightening Village and wait for another message from her," he explained. Naruto jumped up and down.

"I am _not_ going to stand down this close to the base even if it does suck my life energy. That's Sakura in there who life essence is getting sucked," Naruto announced. He looked to Sasuke and saw the barely there nod that the Uchiha gave.

"It would be disobeying an indirect order from the Hokage," Lee smiled at the thought. He didn't come all this way for nothing.

"I'm not going anywhere, especially if I came all the way here to get Sakura," Shikamaru agreed with Lee and Naruto. The three of them looked at Neji. He took a deep breath.

"Either way, I'm out voted. We continue and hope Lady Tsunade is in a forgiving mood when we see her next," Neji conceded defeat. Naruto smirked and they ran deeper in the forest. And deeper in the forest wasn't all that pretty. 

The deeper they went the darker the trees and surrounding air got. Moss grew on the north side of every tree and the trees themselves were more rotted as they ran through. Sasuke was sure that one of the branches they land on would break. Even further still the trees were wilted and had worms and dead animal corpses thrown against the overgrown roots at the bottom of the forest floor.

Soon they were running along a river. But this river was black not crystal. The color had nothing to with the time of day Naruto was sure of that. It made him anticipate more as they heard a rush of water. Not even five seconds later they all stopped on the forest floor beside a black waterfall with white foam being produced at the joining of the river and the falling water.

"We have to go under that?" Shikamaru was skeptical. He sure as hell didn't want to get infected by water or have that water to turn out to be some sort of detecting device.

"If Orochimaru does it then so do we," Sasuke insisted. He walked forward with Naruto and stepped on top of the water, using chakra to stay afloat. They stopped in front of the waterfall and went on different sides then through the water and landed on a rock platform with a door in front of them holding the image of a snake.

Neji, Shikamaru, and Lee followed the suit and like Naruto and Sasuke only got wet on one side. Lee went up to the door, but Sasuke held a hand in front of him to stop him.

"Sasuke….?" Lee looked at Sasuke's activated sharingan studying to door in front of them. Neji activated his byakugan. His mouth was open at what he saw. The door had chakra going through it, with signature not unlike Sasuke's level two curse mark form. There was no way just opening that door regularly would let them through.

"It's curse mark chakra running through the door. If you try to open it you could die from the force of it," Neji told them.

"Wait, so how do we get through?" Naruto asked scratching his head. Shikamaru, being the genius he was, thought of an idea.

"Neji, can you hit any chakra points around the knob so we can get through?" Shikamaru asked hoping this gets easier.

"No, if I touch the door with my bare hand then I get fried," Neji said. 

"Well, we can't just sit and do nothing," Lee said. "Not when we've come this far." Naruto just had an epiphany.

"Yo, teme, if I don't touch the door skin to skin will I get fried?" he asked. Sasuke shrugged. Either way Naruto was trying out his idea. He approached the door ignoring Lee and Neji's warnings. He stuck his hand in his back ninja pouch and pulled out a bobby pin and a thin metal stick. If Sasuke was anyone but Sasuke he would have fallen over anime style.

Careful not to touch the door with his bare hand Naruto inserted the thin stick in the lock of the door knob. He worked it a little while until he heard a click. Then stuck the bobby pin in the top half of the lock on the knob and twisted until a click sounded and Naruto pushed the door with the stick and bobby pin. The door opened to a black hallway.

"I'm half way impressed, dobe," Sasuke complimented in a round about way. Naruto stood proud.

"All in a day's work, teme," Naruto replied. "Thought of it all by myself."

"No, you didn't. I saw Sakura teach you that trick," Shikamaru busted open Naruto's happy moment. Lee sweatdropped while Naruto fell forward anime style. He opened his mouth to tell Shikamaru off but was interrupted.

"Shut up. Let's go," Neji commanded, byakugan activated.

They walked through the doorway cautiously not knowing of anymore traps. Behind them the door shut plunging them in totally darkness. The sound of chirping birds was heard as everyone got in defense position thinking it a trap and Sasuke was to kill them. But he only lifted his hand with chidori on it so a bluish light pushed through the darkness. Everyone relaxed and continued to go through what they now knew was a maze.

The headache was still there, but the nausea and the dizziness was gone. Thank God. Sakura heard footsteps coming down the hallway to her. She hoped it wasn't Orochimaru or Kabuto because she was getting out of this hell hole now. Not sensing the evil chakra signature she backed up against the wall beside the door. She crouched low.

In the window of the door a Sound ninja looked in as ordered by his Lord. But he saw nothing. _Shit. _

"Help me…please," the girl's distressed voice came from inside the cell. The ninja sighed.

"What's wrong?" he said not really caring but didn't disobey orders.

"I feel on the….verge…of death or something. You…have to help me," her small voice gave the impression of real distress. Sakura knew this was not the case. Alarmed, the ninja took out some keys and burst in. Still crouched she stood and in a flash hit the man's neck pressure point, hard. He fell like Naruto who had drank to much sake and passed out.

Hurriedly, she searched him. Sakura took his keys, ninja tools, and searched for a map of the place to get out of here faster. She found no such item. With no choice Sakura left this man behind and locked the door. The pounding in her ears from her headache made it difficult to see. Grasping the wall beside her she slowly went on her knees. The feeling soon passed and she looked ahead. Grabbing a torch that was on the wall she slowly made her way down the fire lit hallway. All this fire made her think of Sasuke.

"Tsunade, be reasonable," Shizune pleaded with her for Tsunade was loading up on kunai, shurkin, the works. "Do honestly think that this will be any different than the last time!"

Tsunade fixed Shizune with a glare. The dark haired woman quieted immediately. Even TonTon didn't move from Shizune's arms.

"It will be different. Shizune, I don't know how long I'll be gone but the Elders will be in charge until I get back," Tsunade instructed her. Shizune looked ready to argue against her but thought better of it and didn't say a thing. Tsunade was at the door when she turned. Shizune looked up, hoping Tsunade changed her mind.

"Oh, and if I don't come back tell Naruto to have fun being Hokage," she then left the Hokage's office and went to meet up with Jiraiya at the gates. Shizune stood there, mouth open, not believing that Tsunade wouldn't come back.

"You will come back Lady Tsunade. Or Sakura and Naruto won't know what to do," she said fondly and quietly, absent mindedly petting TonTon.

As Tsunade expected, Jiraiya was late. She wondered if he had been hanging around Kakashi too much. Perverted minds think alike, after all. But Tsunade didn't have to wait long until Jiraiya 'poofed' in. He opened his mouth for an excuse but was stopped.

"I don't care about the road of life," Tsunade told him. He looked confused but answered either way.

"I was going to say that the ladies couldn't keep their hands off me so I was delayed," Jiraiya said looking totally serious.

Tsunade slapped him upside the head. That was an even worse excuse than Kakashi's. and Kakashi had a whole arsenal of excuses.

"Quit screwing around this is serious here, damn it," she yelled while Jiraiya picked himself up off the ground dusting off a little dirt. He sobered.

"Alright, Tsunade. You ready?" he asked looking at her. She nodded. Killing this guy was what she was ready for since the day he left with his sick intentions.

The gates opened and allowed them through. They walked along the path until they heard the gates close and saw the sun in front of them, simultaneously, they became blurs, not looking back.

Neji's team was lost as hell in this maze base. Usually, Sasuke had a good sense of direction but that was useless in this base. It was one he had never before. All were being extremely careful. They wanted Sakura not a confrontation. Though Sasuke had no problem smashing this place to smithereens so Orochimaru knew about his presence and challenge to fight.

Neji didn't like that idea. Naruto did. In face he was the one who suggested they smash this place to find where they had taken Sakura.

"I don't like this. It's too quiet," Shikamaru told the rest of them.

"Yes, I think we are being toyed with," Lee agreed. They entered a dome like area with stone on all sides. In the light of the chidori you couldn't see the ceiling or the other end of the room. It was like two football fields slammed together.

The light suddenly turned on. The team moved into defense, Sasuke's chidori extinguished. They were in a dome like room, all lit by fire torches. There must have been hundreds on the wall, not to mention that of all the ten exits they could have chosen, all were filled with Sound ninja.

"Yes, I do believe you are being toyed with," came a slithery voice at one of the middle exits. The group looked to see Orochimaru walking forward.

"Where is she!?" Naruto exclaimed. His hold on the kunai he had, when the lights went up, tightened. His eyes flashing a dangerous red then back to the blue that now looked like ice fire.

"Safe…for the moment," he replied. After that statement he stopped and looked mockingly at the five shinobi. "Ah, Sssasuke, you came. Good boy."

"I'm not your pet, snake. Now, where the hell is she?!" Sasuke was more than a little pissed. The sharingan was a blaze now and looking dangerously toward Orochimaru.

"Join us Sasuke and you can have her," Orochimaru suggested. Sasuke sneered.

"Go to hell."

As if on cue the hundreds of Sound ninja darted forward. A mini war erupted. Naruto pulled as many shadows as possible, Shikamaru was straggling some with shadows, Lee was more or less beating them to a bloody pulp, Neji sent some flying dead or unconscious, and Sasuke stood in front of Orochimaru.

**A/N: sorry for it being so short. The next few chapters or so are going to be fighting, but then I get to ring all the SasuSaku moment I have planned. Oh I can't wait. **_**Review, for the love of Naruto.**_


	7. Arrive Sanin in action

**A/N: you guys make me feel so much better with your reviews. Cookies to all of you, and if you don't like cookies then doughnuts. If you don't like doughnuts, then what the hell is wrong with you?**

**Disclaimer: I would think people get tried of these things. Me no own Naruto.**

* * *

Running through the woods to get to the base was like a warm up to Tsunade and Jiraiya. Now in the just rising sun light they realized that they didn't know how to get to the base. They were in Yasuki, having already checked the only other neighboring village.

The prostitutes had told Jiraiya that they saw a blonde in orange a few hours ago, and that he was headed to the center of town. Once the Sanins got to the center of town they had to find Sakura's hotel, mainly because Tsunade drank too much to remember the name of it.

After finding that they had to guess where the team went. That guess lead them to Yasuki. And finding anything in a dead place like this was hopeless and disappointing. At least for Jiraiya.

"AWWW, there's no pretty girls around here," Jiraiya complained for the millionth time. There was a twitch in Tsunade's eyebrow.

"That's because it's five in the morning and the only things awake at this hour are you and me," Tsunade explained. At least she gave him an explanation, she was content with hitting him every time he said something perverted.

"I know but I would at least expect something," Jiraiya crossed his arms over his chest and pouted a little. Tsunade just sighed and walked down the street. Damn, I wish Kakashi was available to track these kids.

Then a sudden movement was seen out of her line of vision. Jiraiya followed the movement into the ally instantly, Tsunade took off after him. A girl about fifteen with purple hair was obviously taking a short cut home after doing something exhausting.

Jiraiya crep up behind her and took her shoulders. He didn't spin her around because he'd would have rather not have been seen.

"I have a question," he stated to the tense and scared girl. Tsunade came up and thought Jiraiya was taking too long.

"Do you know or have you heard of a base that Orochimaru uses around here?" she demanded. This mission was getting out of hand and Jiraiya and her would have an easier time had the damn team followed her instructions and stayed in a damn village.

"Please don't hurt me, I'll tell you," the girl said weakly. "H-He has a base on the outskirts of town by the only waterfall in a f-five mile radius."

"And a team of four with a loud blonde, guy with a bowl cut, and the like? Have you seen them?" Tsunade asked urgently.

The girl said nothing. She was afraid of the younger Uchiha's wrath. And he told her not to say anything about him. But the Sanin were getting tried of her silence.

"If you don't say anything, girl, I'll be forced to take some inappropriate measures," Jiraiya said darkly moving his hands a little down on the girl. If possible she stiffened more than what she already was.

"I can't," she whispered.

"Well, looks like I get have fun today," Jiraiya said closing in on her. She panicked.

"P-Please d-don't! My lord came to me and asked about Orochimaru; he was with a blonde blue eyed guy and a guy with fuzzy eyebrows and serious bowl cut. But my Lord said to not tell anyone. Please you didn't hear this from me," she begged. God, the girl was almost to tears.

"Who's your 'lord'?" Tsunade asked coming to stand by Jiraiya.

"Lord Uchiha," she reluctantly whispered. Jiraiya turned to Tsunade, whose face was shocked, and she nodded. That was all they were going to get out her. They disappeared, leaving a very shocked girl on her knees in relief.

On the roof, the Sanin were in discussion. "Sasuke Uchiha is with them?!" Tsunade all but shouted it to the world. "He's supposed to be killed on sight."

"Well, I guess. But it doesn't make sense. Why would the Uchiha go with people he betrayed to save someone he also betrayed? I don't get it," Jiraiya mulled it over. Tsunade turned to fully face her companion.

"Sakura's last mission was a few days ago. When she came back Naruto slipped up and told me that he thinks Sakura was with the Uchiha before she was found unconscious under the trees out of the rain," Tsunade reveled to him. Jiraiya just shook his head.

"That's still no reason to after her, if he even did go after her. I think he went to kill Orochimaru," Jiraiya stated his idea.

"Well, we'll know when we get there. Orochimaru will die today. I don't care if it's by our hands or his, but he will die. And when we get there we'll have to ask Sakura why she didn't kill him like she was ordered," Tsunade said then turned to jump with Jiraiya following. They were off to the waterfall.

* * *

Damn, this place was like a fucking maze. Twenty minutes of walking and Sakura found herself right back were she started. Now in the same hallway, she decided to go left instead of right at the turn. She walked slowly and quietly, fighting any ninja was the last thing she wanted to do.

All at once she felt nauseous and hunched over on the floor. Above her was a torch and she grabbed it to stay standing. Pink hair fell in her face as she held her stomach. Even with grabbing the torch, the nausea was so strong she fell to her knees. The torch fell to the ground beside her.

Five minutes later she was able to stand again, and she limped down the left passage. Her head was still throbbing, but now the nausea refused to leave this time. She sucked it up and kept going. She didn't make it all this way to lay on the floor and drown in her pain. She did that too much when she was a little girl.

Limping still, Sakura noticed a door to the left. She crossed the hall and put and ear to it. She heard buzzing, like a computer or something. She had to admit, even though she had some serious problems at the moment, she was curious.

**Curiosity killed the cat.**

Yeah, I get it. I'm leaving, okay. Get off my back.

**Just thank me and move your ass.**

God, she wasn't in the mood to deal with herself. But when she heard footsteps coming down the hall slowly, she guessed she didn't have a choice.

**Change of plans, get the hell in there.**

Sakura didn't need to be told twice. She turned the knob, and thanked God that it wasn't locked, and slipped through the door as the footstep got nearer. Sakura tried to be as quiet as possible when she closed the door, but it still clicked. It sounded so loud in the silence.

She knew she was caught. If the person who was walking saw her in here, she would be done for. Sakura held her breath, sweat rolled down her. The footsteps sounded louder and they were faster than before. Oh God, she was going to die.

The footsteps were right outside the door now. They stopped. Shit, they were going to open the door, which she was leaning on to stand. Nausea got her again, she tried to fight back. The footsteps began again and passed the door. Sakura went on her knees again and threw up stomach acid, because everything that she had eaten was already thrown up.

It burned her throat and mouth. The smell didn't get to her as she was used to disgusting smells. She sat back and put her hands on the grungy, but cool, stone behind her. Sakura looked over and saw a line of computers. All were glowing, so all were on.

There was a bed with straps on it and three chairs, then the line of computers. Those were the only furnishings in the room. The only light came from the glow of the computers. She tugged on the chakra restraint choker she still had on, hoping for it to loosen because it was irritating her skin. Just like it did every time she hurled.

She carefully stood, held onto the door and stayed there for ten seconds. Once she had gotten her balance she slowly made her way to the computers. One the first one she noticed it was a medical condition of a patient. At the top she read the name: Sakura Haruno. She felt her stomach flip and she wanted to hurl again. She fight the urge.

Looking at the rest of the document, Sakura realized why she was as sick as she was. The acid in her stomach was to strong, a virus was making her temperature spike, and something was eating away at her muscle cells. She guessed it was the choker on her neck.

What she didn't know was how she got this way. Sure this place was dirty and God only knew what the hell kind of germs were around this place, but then everyone would be sick. Not just her. Orochimaru would be sick, Kabuto would be sick, and so would the other ninja who reside here.

**Does sick in the head count?**

No, Orochimaru was born that way. Must have had a bad childhood.

**Maybe Tsunade hit in the head one too many times, that could cause brain damage.**

Sakura looked at two other computers. They had experiment notes typed on there. One said subject killed itself. Another said that experiment cross mutation was failure and subject died.

This guy was sick before Tsunade even met him.

The fourth and last were camera settings. One said training room, another said Sakura's cell, the list went on and on. One caught her eye, though. It said: Dome obstacle course, survival training. Who the hell trains in a dome? Sakura took the mouse and clicked twice. Instantly it came on screen. But it looked like a damn blood bath. There was blood on the camera making it hard for her to see.

But she saw dead ninja, sound ninja. There were three people fighting sound ninja, one was fighting Kabuto, and another was fight Orochimaru. She couldn't tell who they were but didn't care. Sakura tore her eyes away from the blood and clicked the Esc button. She was then in the place she started. Sakura looked at the top and clicked on the Map icon.

Instantly a whole map of the base came into view. Sakura guessed that the red meant that that was were she was. Sakura looked for the dome like room. She found it in the middle. Go figure.

She traced her finger from were she was to the fastest way to there. Once done with that she hit the Esc button again and went to run out of the room. But her head throbbed again and she fell to the floor. Ignoring the pain she got up and went to the door, listened and then went out to find the dome room.

* * *

Naruto kicked Kabuto but his leg was grabbed and a kunai was plunged in his chest. That Naruto disappeared and another appeared behind Kabuto and hit him with a kunai to the back. Kabuto back flipped away from Naruto, avoiding dead shin obi laying on the floor. He laughed at Naruto as he healed himself.

"What the hell is so funny?!" Naruto yelled coming at him again. The punch was dodged and Kabuto's kick to Naruto's side hit right on target.

"Just that you're fighting a losing battle," Kabuto answered pleasantly. Naruto got back up and went for him again.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was having a serious problem. There was deep wound on his right side that went from his shoulder to his hip, courtesy of his ex-sensei. Though Sasuke was sure that his ex-sensei was having problems too. Orochimaru was sporting several deep wounds, though not as long as Sasuke's, he had a good five on him.

"Come now, Sasuke you should join us again. I can teach you wonders," Orochimaru said, his tongue sliding in and out of his mouth like a snake's.** (if that's not the most pedophilic sentence I ever wrote.)**

"Go to hell," Sasuke countered, blood was dripping from his wound and his vision was starting to blur. Sasuke needed to finish this now. He made hand signs, ending with the sign of the tiger.

Fire Style! Fire ball Jutsu! Sasuke blew a great big ball of fire aimed for Orochimaru.

He did what Sasuke expected him to do. Water Style! Water Whirlpool! Orochimaru sent a big whirlpool of water at the fire ball. On impact, it turned to steam, steam with hidden weapons. Sasuke smirked.

"You're over confident," a slithery voice said from behind. Then Sasuke felt a sharp pain in his back, dangerously close to his heart. No, he went behind me. Because he knew there were hidden weapons, DAMN IT! Sasuke felt his heart stop for one beat, then speed up. He had to calm down or he'd bleed to death. Orochimaru then appeared in front of him, ten feet away. This isn't working.

"Sasuke, how the hell are we supposed to find Sakura like this?!" Naruto shouted from acrossed the room. Sasuke could no longer sense Kabuto's chakra. Good riddance. But Sasuke didn't have an answer for Naruto who was now fighting five sound ninja, as were Lee, Shikamaru, and Neji. It was too much. It was a miracle they lasted this long. **(somebody give them a raise!)**

BAM!!

Everyone stopped fighting to see Tsunade punch through a wall with Jiraiya in tow. Tsunade looked pissed and Jiraiya had sound ninja by the throat looking at the destruction inside the dome. The sound ninja looked dead.

"You little punks disobey my orders and bring the Uchiha with you!?" Tsunade yelled. Damn, we're going get it when we get back, Shikamaru thought. He used his shadow strangulation jutsu to kill an on coming ninja. If we get back, what a drag.

"Granny, yell later, kill now," Naruto shouted back cutting some ninja's jugular. A sound ninja just went flying into the wall, leaving a dent, courtesy of Lee. Jiraiya appeared in front of Sasuke. He looked at the Sanin like he lost his mind.

"Sasuke, take Naruto and go find Sakura," Jiraiya said not taking his eyes off Orochimaru. Finally, someone got the fact that Sasuke didn't want to waste his time fighting this pedophile. Only a little part him was annoyed that he was interrupted.

Sasuke poofed over to Naruto and grabbed his shirt collar. "Dobe, let's get Sakura." Naruto didn't need to be told twice, he started for the nearest exit with Sasuke following. Farther down the passage with torch light there was a way straight and a way right. Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"Go straight, I'll go right," Sasuke said turning to his path. "And be careful."

"Aww, teme, I knew you cared," Naruto teased turning to his path. Sasuke gave him a glare.

"I only said that so you scare Sakura with how you look," Sasuke said walking to the right down his path. Naruto steamed for a second then shouted down the passage.

"Right back at you, teme!" he shouted, then Sasuke assumed he went his separate way. This hallway to was lit by torches. Hadn't Orochimaru ever heard of electricity? The only thing the torches did was make walking alone creepy.

This was starting to get boring, Sasuke had walked the same path for what seemed like thrity minutes, though it was probably like five. Sasuke then came to a fork in the road. His gut told him to go left. He went left.

Ten steps on that path and the floor opened up. Sasuke fell but grabbed on to the opening. He looked down. Pointed pikes. Classic. Sasuke pushed his feet on the wall and flipped back to ground level. He walked back the way he had come, turned around and ran to the floor opening. He sailed over it easy and cleared to the other side.

Sasuke then decided to walk on one side of hall. He choose the left and continued to walk. Sasuke hoped Naruto was having more luck then him. He hadn't found a trace of her, not even her chakra signature.

He then saw a shadow up ahead. Sasuke immediately stopped. It looked like it was clinging to the wall for support. The shadow didn't stop so it didn't see him. Sasuke hoped it wasn't Sakura and just some wounded ninja he could kill. Not like he had hardly any chakra to spare, anyway.

But the shadow didn't stop and Sasuke saw a flash of pink. He knew it was Sakura. Sasuke walked forward to see her clinging to the wall. She looked up, in shock. She was dirty and looked like death warned over. He went to her.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked. She assessed him fully, her eyes going to the cut on his right side.

"I'm here to get you. What happened to you?" Sasuke asked as he took her waist and brought her against his left side. She tried to smile, it didn't work.

"I think this base is one of the weirdest that snake has," Sakura said bitterly. She accepted his help. He didn't know if he should lead her back to the dome or have her lay down somewhere. God, she looked terrible.

"This base will suck the life essence of any shinobi that doesn't have a curse mark from Orochimaru," Sasuke explained to her. Sakura turned to look at him.

"That jutsu's forbidden," Sakura said, eyes wide. Sasuke raised a brow at her.

"Since when has the word 'forbidden' ever mattered to that snake?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

"Point taken. Come on, we have to go to the dome thing were everyone else is. Who all is here?" Sakura started moving. Well, Sasuke guessed it would turn out horribly, horribly wrong, but this way Tsunade would see Sakura, then they could go find Naruto.

"Naruto, Lee, Shikamaru, Hyuuga, Tsunade, and Jiraiya," Sasuke gave her the liberty of answering her question. Sakura said nothing but continued to walk with Sasuke. Both were helping the other out, though Sasuke was helping Sakura more, with the stolen life essence deal and all.

They got back to the opening in the floor much faster than when Sasuke came the first time. Sakura looked at the pikes and then Sasuke's injury.

"You didn't fall, did you?" Sakura asked, concern laced through her voice. Sasuke felt his heart tighten at her tone and hoped it was her tone and not the injury to his back that caused the tightening of the heart.

"No, Orochimaru did that," Sasuke answered truthfully. What the hell was this girl doing to his heart? He could listen to her all day, as long as she was making sense, if not then her voice would be more annoying.

"Oh," Sakura made a mental note to heal Sasuke when this was over and kick Orochimaru in the balls. And chop off his girl hair. How did Sasuke find out about her being here? Hell, where was 'here'? Again, so many questions with Sasuke. He always kept her guessing.

Sakura was then surprised by two strong arms lifting her up and jumping over the floor of pikes. Sakura clung to Sasuke's neck, more than a little shocked. Again, Sasuke landed on the other side with no problem, except for the burning in his right side.

"Warn me, next time," Sakura mumbled a little short of breath.

"Hn," Sasuke replied. He didn't let her go, but continued to carry her bride style. She looked at him, puzzled. He looked back.

"Are you going to put me down?" Sakura asked. His arms tightened around her.

"It's faster this way," was his answer. In reality, he just didn't want to let her go. No part of him wanted to let her go. Not now, not ever.

Sasuke then realized that he had to turn left to go back to the dome area. He did so and walked the little way to the one of the many doorways that lead to the dome. Sakura gapped at what she saw.

Bodies were thrown with no regard, some with missing limbs or head, others were so broken they were like a rag doll, blood was bathing every body, living and dead. Sakura saw Neji first, one arm looked to be broken, and was trying to catch his breath but ninja after ninja went after him. He looked ready to collapse. Lee was next, no broken bones, but looked ready to collapse from exhaustion, with cuts all over his body.

Shikamaru was the cleanest, as he was a long range fighter. But he was kneeling, panting, and sporting a cut here and there. Naruto, who went the wrong way and ended up fighting in the dome again, was the bloodiest of them all.

He had three broken bones, two deep cuts that were dripping blood, several bruises, and what could be a concussion. Naruto was fighting enemy after enemy, looking dead on his feet.

The room grew dark. All the light and attention was on the three Sanin. Tsunade and Jiraiya had Orochimaru cornered. Jiraiya was behind him and Tsunade was in front of him. Jiraiya's hand was glowing red while Tsunade's was glowing lime green. Orochimaru was begging for his life.

"Come on, we were teammates. You don't want to do this," Orochimaru pleaded. Tsunade said nothing as did Jiraiya. They raised their hands together and ran to Orochimaru, who was broken and bloody.

Tsunade's hand went in Orochimaru's upper chest, while Jiraiya's went in the lower chest. The combined attacks brightened the room. It was so bright that everything turned a blinding white. Sakura and Sasuke closed their eyes against the light.

_Good-bye, Orochimaru!_

The force of the attack threw everyone back. Sakura landed on Sasuke while the other's landed on dead bodies. The room was silent, in the middle stood Jiraiya and Tsunade over ashes, that was what Orochimaru was reduced down to.

Then while everyone was getting up, a ticking sound was heard. Neji used his byakugan to look around, he saw nothing. Then he looked down to the floor.

"Take cover, the place is gonna blow!" he yelled. Two seconds later all that was heard was a big BOOM.

--

--

--

--

Sakura smelled grass. She opened her eyes to see herself laying in it. She jerked up looking around. Behind her, she saw rubble. That must have been the base. She looked beside her. Nothing. On her other side, nothing. In front of her, nothing. Sakura stood shakily.

She looked from this vantage point. Up ahead she saw raven black hair. With her limp, she walked toward Sasuke. He was laying in a puddle that must have been created by rain, recently.

Sakura knelt down and felt for a pulse. It was faint, but there. Sakura looked around again. She saw no one. Sasuke had to get taken care of immediately. She took his left arm, hoisted him up and put that arm around her shoulders and carried him deeper into the forest.

* * *

**A/N:hmmmm, I wonder what happened to the others. I'll write about it later. Remember the SasuSaku moments I promised? Well they're coming your way in the next chapter. Review, my pretties, or I'll have Orochimaru haunt up until you die. Now isn't that scary?**


	8. Recovery

**A/N: and here are the SasuSaku moments that I'm sure you all want to read. Now be good, relax, and enjoy the show.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, feel sorry for me.  
**Sakura continued to half drag half carry Sasuke through the woods. Once they were in a place far from the rubble of the base, she set him down by a tree and looked at his wounds. The long gash on his right side was bleeding too much.

* * *

That was the first thing to do on the list. His left shoulder was partially dislocated, there were several burns on his skin through his clothes, and a kunai length gash on his back that was the second thing to take care of.

"Sakura, where are we?" a voice asked. Sakura looked up to see Sasuke looking intensely at her. She stared too long and she felt very conscience of her ripped jeans and equally ripped black top in several places. She went back to studying his wounds instead of those gorgeous onyx eyes.

"We're in the forest by the base. The bomb blew away almost everything. I didn't see anyone else but you," Sakura explained. She needed his shirt off. Looking back up, Sakura found Sasuke starring at her with a fire in his eyes that she was scared to analyze. "Sasuke can you take off your shirt?"

She never thought she would ask him that. Sasuke shrugged and raised his right hand to take off the left side of his hatori. With his left shoulder being partially dislocated she reached up and took off the rest of his shirt.

Her finger tips brushed over the muscle there and she felt him tensen while fire erupted at the feel of him under skin. The anticipation shivered up her arm and rocked her entire body.

Now with Sasuke's hatori around his hips Sakura saw the damage done to his body. She applauded him for being able to move his right arm at all. The tendons were getting ready to rip apart.

She was glad she had another shirt under the black one she wore. Sakura took off the black one and pressed it to his wound. She heard him suck in a breath. If only she didn't have this damn chakra choker on her neck. Damn whoever made it to hell.

"Why can't you heal?" Sasuke asked through his teeth. The pressure she had on his wound to stop the bleeding must have been more pain full than she thought. It couldn't be helped, this wound had to stop bleeding.

"This choker on my neck shocks me every time I use chakra and I can't get it off," Sakura explained. She was astride Sasuke's right leg, though not sitting on it, she was on her knees to get closer to the wound.

Sasuke examined the necklace choker. He remembered Kabuto wanting to make something like this. Looks like his succeed. Sasuke brought his right hand to the choker, but it shocked him and Sakura. He glared at the damn thing.

Sakura tore the black shirt and hoped to use it to wrap the wound around Sasuke's gash. She tore it to a few pieces and then looked at Sasuke. He had the fire in his eyes, still. She realized that in the partially sheer white top she was in was going to do nothing to put out that fire. Lord, help her, she wanted him.

She wanted an S-class traitor physically as a lover and emotionally and legally as a husband. Dear God, she was asking too much. Sasuke wasn't cleared of his crimes and she was betraying the village even now. And she didn't care. She was happy she was with Sasuke, no matter what.

"Sasuke, sit up a bit," Sakura ordered. He obeyed. She scooted closer to him than what she already was. They were chest to chest and with the barely there martial it was like she was only in her bra. She shivered. Wrapping the black tore up shirt around him, she tried to ignore the feel of his muscle, the way his chest came up when he inhaled. She was going insane with wanting him.

Sakura tied the pieces of fabric around him tightly. Just enough to stop the bleeding. The wrappings didn't cover the whole laceration and it didn't cover the kunai deep wound on his back. Before she got to that though she wanted to get his shoulder it place.

"I'm going to pop your left shoulder back in place, so it'll be painful," she warned him. He took a breath.

"Just do it," he ordered. She kneeled in between his legs and put on hand if front of his shoulder and placed one on the back. She could feel the dislocation and she took a breath herself. 1...2...3.

Sakura shoved the hand on the front of his shoulder back and steadied it with the hand on his back. Sasuke closed his eyes to block the pain. He really wished she could heal, it'd be a lot less painfully. And he had a feeling she wasn't done yet.

He couldn't stand for her to be this close. He could feel her body heat, and it was making his own body heat up. When she had her hands on him he felt close to spontaneous human combustion. He couldn't help himself now, he had to touch her.

Sakura was about to ask Sasuke to turn around when his hand touched her face. It was feather light and made her burn. She loved her hands on him and his hands on her. Sakura looked at him. His eyes were darker, clouded over with lust. That feeling shot down her spine to settle in between her legs.

They were inches apart, Sasuke stopped. Almost like he was regaining his senses. Sakura closed the remaining and melted their lips together. Her hands shot to his hair, massaging his scalp. One of Sasuke's cupped her face, the other to the small of her back, pulling her forward. He crushed their bodies together.

Fire traced down her skin as the kiss turned raw, needy. His tongue explored every hallow of mouth, his hands roamed over very inch of her body. Sakura was going up in flames and they still had their clothes. Sasuke was getting overheated but he didn't want to stop what he was doing.

He found his hand found her core and stroked her through her clothes. She gasped and rocked into his hand, needing some form of release. Sasuke could feel her moisture through her clothes, he was hard in an instant.

Sasuke took his hand away and replaced it with his member. He groaned at the feel. Sakura ran her hands through hair, then down his neck, to his shoulders, and scratched her nails a little down on his chest.

Sasuke took his mouth to her neck. He sucked at her skin and she let a moan pass her lips. God, it felt so right. He bit her collar bone and licked over it to sooth any pain that was caused.

"Sasuke…oh, god we have to stop," Sakura was short of breath. It was like there really was fire eating at the oxygen, making it hard to breath. Sasuke stopped attacking her neck to look at her. She continued her explanation. "Your hurt, Sasuke, we can't do this. The wound on your back needs to stitched."

Sasuke sighed. She was right and he could feel it. His strength was slowly fading and he was starting to get dizzy. He looked at Sakura. She was disheveled, her hair was wild, her clothes were crumpled, and she was breathing like she ran a marathon.

Sasuke then realized that his breath was labored too and he needed a cold shower. "Sakura, I don't think I can have you touch and not do anything about it."

Sakura blushed and looked away. He had that fire burning in his eyes, and she would be caught up in the flame soon if she didn't do something. So, Sakura went forward and placed a short kiss on his lips then looked at him and smiled.

"We'll finish what we started, but I'd rather have you alive than on the verge of passing out and bleeding to death," Sakura told him. Her breathing had returned to normal but Sasuke was still laboring for breath. A worried expression came off her face.

"Sasuke, do you have a needle and string?" she asked. That back wound had to be taken care of, now. Sasuke looked a little confused but answered.

"Senbon and the string I always have," he answered. Sakura held out her hand and Sasuke dug through his pouch and took out said items and handed them to her.

"Turn," she instructed. He moved carefully and stopped when his back faced her. Sakura shut her eyes, not believing how Sasuke was still conscience. She tied the string to one end of the senbon and tied a knot at the other end of the string.

"This'll hurt worse than your shoulder," Sakura warned. Sasuke grunted indicating he heard her. She pushed the skin together and pulled the senbon through one side and then the other. Sasuke gritted his teeth to stop from crying out. That hurt like a bitch. Sasuke felt her do it again.

He tensed up again, face screwed up pain. He forced himself to breath slower, so Sakura could work more accurately. Sakura pulled the string through Sasuke's skin and made sure the flesh was together before taking it up a half inch and doing the process all over again.

Good thing for Sasuke was that the hole in his back was only three inches in diameter. So, she would only have to do this six times. With two stitches done she just had four more to go a then Sasuke would be less likely to pass out.

* * *

Naruto woke up a very dark place. He couldn't breath and something was crushing his body. Naruto then realized that what was crushing him was a few hundred pounds of rock. If he didn't get this crap off him he would suffocate.

Naruto gathered chakra in his hand and began to swirl it in all different directions. He waited for it to build and, with what little space he had, threw it at the rocks. Rock debris flew in all directions and the dust settled on Naruto. The light that was now in his eyes was a bright red. He sat up and realized the sun was going down.

Naruto staggered up and out of the rock. He looked around. Rock, body parts, and a little blood. Naruto was on a rock hedge and so he stepped down on the loose rock and tried to keep his balance.

Instantly, Naruto clutched his right side. He looked down at his hand and saw blood pour out from his side to his hand. Kuso, he cursed. Naruto staggered over to look for anyone he knew. About thirty feet away he saw an arm, the rest of the body was covered over with rubble.

He knelt down and started to peel the rocks off the body. The face of Shikamaru greeted Naruto as he dug.

"Shikamaru! Shikamaru, are you okay?!" Naruto dug out the rest of his teammate's body as Shikamaru's eyes opened. Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Shikamaru looked confused, he sat up after Naruto had removed all the rocks.

"What happened?" he asked, a hand to his head.

"That damn snake blew the whole place up," Naruto exploded. He and Shikamaru went to their feet. Shikamaru looked around, but saw exactly what Naruto did.

"Have you found anyone else?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto clutched his side again, and shook his head.

"You're the first one I found," Naruto explained. He winced as blood continued to drip from his side.

Suddenly rubble was thrown in every which way a few feet in front of them. Both ninja ducked their heads to avoid being hit. When the dust cleared, Tsunade was standing there brushing off the dust. She spotted Naruto and Shikamaru.

The three meet half way. "Are two alright?" she asked, studying them. Her amber eyes went to Naruto's side. She moved to heal it, but Naruto waved it off.

"We have to find the other's and Sasuke and Sakura," Naruto said starting to walk a random direction.

"I'm here," a voice behind the three announced. They turned to look at Neji, who was holding his arm and limping towards them, very slowly. Shikamaru went and put his good arm around his shoulder and helping them over to other two.

On their right, they heard a few rocks being turned over and saw Lee getting up, a few of his cuts bleeding while one arm was completely useless for him. He walked to the group.

"Lee, are okay?" Naruto asked looking at the mangled arm. It was black, blue, purple, and bloody. Lee shot Naruto a million dollar smile.

"This is nothing I cannot handle," Lee assured everyone, but his smile was a bit weak. Then the ground started shaking. The group looked to each other.

"Is it an earthquake?" Tsunade asked, looking around at the land. Naruto knew it wasn't an earthquake. It was official, he had spent too much time with the toad sage.

"It's Jiraiya on one of his toads," Naruto told everyone trying to keep upright. Sure enough, a toad soon came into view and on it's head was the perverted old toad sage. It stopped right before them and disappeared leaving Jiraiya on the ground.

"Everyone good?" he asked looking at them. They nodded. Tsunade piped up.

"Let's head back to the village," she ordered. Naruto's mouth went to the floor anime style.

"B-B-But what about Sasuke-teme and Sakura?" he asked waving the arm that didn't have a hold of his side. Tsunade glared at him.

"Look, I'm sending a messenger bird to Konoha when we reach Yasuki. Then a new team will search the forest until they find her. And we'll be in the village in case she went back," Tsunade looked at it logically. Naruto didn't want to look at it logically, he wanted to know if Sakura and Sasuke were alright, damn it.

Everyone started to follow Tsunade's orders but Naruto, he stood there little the stubborn the five year he really was inside. Tsunade's glare did nothing to persuade Naruto to go back to the village. Tsunade sighed. I'm totally making this brat Hokage when we get back, I'm tired of dealing with him.

"Naruto, when we get back to the village and I heal you, you can go look for Sakura," she bribed him. His face lit up like giving a three year old a lollipop.

"Really?" Naruto asked, excited. Tsunade crossed her fingers behind her back and smiled at him. Sorry, Naruto.

"Yep," she lied. Naruto's smile got brighter.

"Well, let's go," Naruto started to catch up the rest of the group who had already left. He slow do to his injury, but he still smiled, not knowing Tsunade lied. She didn't like to lie to Naruto, but it was for the best.

* * *

Sakura just finished with the stitching and was tying the string so it wouldn't fall out. Sakura was glad she was done, she knew it was painful for Sasuke to go through this without anything to numb him.

Sasuke turned to look her, but not his whole body. One look at her and he knew something was up.

"What's with the face?" Sasuke asked, initiating the conversion. Sakura looked up to see him looking at her over his shoulder.

"What about my face?" Sakura asked. Was there something on her face or something? If there was he didn't need to point it out, she knew she looked dead on her feet. She was probably pale and had ring under her eyes, but he didn't need to point it out.

"There's something bothering you," Sasuke said bluntly. If he was going to tell her that her expression was off then he wasn't going to beat around the bush. She looked down.

"Is it that obvious?" Sakura asked, a little sad. It would hurt to turn around so Sasuke did the next best thing. He laid back, and as she had scooted away, his head landed in her lap. She looked shocked then puzzled. Sasuke didn't get her problem, it's not like his head hadn't been in her lap before.

"Is the sky blue?" Sasuke looked up at her and answered sarcastically. Sakura looked up at the sky.

"The sky's red now," she was teasing him. He 'hmp'ed.

"Smart ass."

"Do you think Naruto and the others are okay?" Sakura looked back down at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"That's what's bothering you?" She nodded. "The dobe's fine. He's too stupid to die because of a bomb."

Sakura sighed. "He's a lot smarter now," she defended looking down at the guy in her lap.

"I know. He forced me to join him and his team," Sasuke hated to admit it but, the dobe wasn't as stupid as he use to be, though he was still a dobe. Sakura looked a little overwhelmed.

"Wait, he found you?" Sakura asked. Sasuke nodded. "How?"

"By chance."

That was just like Naruto. But it was his charm. There was no way on God's green earth that someone could hate Naruto. Not even Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" He grunted to show he was listening, his eyes closed. "Did you mean what you said the last time we met?"

"When I said what?" Sasuke knew what she meant and his heart just started to kick into overdrive. He fought to kept his face passive.

"When you said that you loved and you'd come back," Sakura quietly told him.

He opened his eyes to look at her. She was blushing, but met his gaze.

* * *

**A/N: and that's that. I didn't mean to end it here, but it seemed like a good place to stop. And I also didn't mean for Sasuke and Sakura's conversion to spread for a page. But I LOVE THE FLUFF!! Sorry. I decided to put the fluff in when I realized it wanted Sasuke to look at her when asked the last question. That seemed like the easiest way, and it was FLUFFY. Okay I'm over that . And there are the two chapters I promised.**


	9. Anytime

**A/N: okay, this chapter is for luna-moongoddess and TigerPriestess. And I'm back from the music camp and it was totally fun! It actually does feel like college.**

**Disclaimer: no own Naruto.**

* * *

Sasuke inhaled and exhaled, preparing for what he was going to say. There were two options: one, deny it and be screwed over when he got back to the village but keep his pride or two, say he meant it and hope Sakura didn't cry when he said he wasn't going to the village with her, his pride be damned. Right now the latter sounded better than the former.

"Yeah, I meant it," Sasuke told her. He closed his eyes and fought back the blush that was accompanying those words. He felt his head tremble. Opening one eye, Sasuke saw Sakura trembling from head to toe. Wait, was it something he said?

Sakura felt like she was floating on a cloud. She was so nervous and shocked all she could do was tremble. Her stomach did flips and her heartbeat seemed to be roaring in her ears. Sakura closed her eyes to keep happy tears from spilling over.

"Sakura--," Sasuke opened both eyes now. He looked worried for her. Is there some kind of aftershock to the jutsu she'd been in?

"Sasuke, you said you couldn't come back," Sakura cut him off. She was trying to get her heat to relax, but she was getting a headache again and her limbs felt numb and useless all at once.

"That was something I had to say in case it got back to Itachi," Sasuke told her. She was trembling more now. And he didn't think it was because he just confirmed that he loved her.

"There was no one there but us. You can't let him rule your life," Sakura tried to breath in and out but she was losing her balance. Her eyes snapped open. They were unfocussed, not really looking at anything.

"The bastard already does. I don't want to see him killing you or the dobe or Kakashi just because I care," Sasuke said bitterly. He sat up from her lap and turned fully to look at her. Her pupils were dilated and she was shaking everywhere. Sasuke unconsciously moved closer to her.

"Would he really do that?" Sakura asked. How could someone torment their little brother like that? So, was she a liability? Was Naruto? Kakashi, even? The pounding in her head was getting worse. Sakura tried to focused on Sasuke, but just ended up seeing color, fuzzy color. Her stomach did another flip, almost choking her with vomit she fought down.

"Yes, he would," Sasuke answered her truthfully. If Itachi thought Sakura or Naruto or even Kakashi was interfering with what he was trying to make of Sasuke then he would gladly kill them without second thought or remorse.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura. "Are you okay?" he asked. She was looking a little green. The sun was down and dusk was here so Sasuke knew they couldn't stay here for long.

"No, I'm not," Sakura answered truthfully, fighting back vomit again. She couldn't see Sasuke any longer. All she saw was black, she didn't even feel her own body.

Sakura went down without much warning. As soon as her sentence came out she closed her eyes and involuntarily passed out. Sasuke caught her before she met the ground and hugged her to him. He looked up at the sky, there was the little dipper and the big dipper. Even Orien's belt. this was going to be a long night. There was no way he could move her and his injured body, so staying was the only option.

* * *

It was early morning in the Konoha village and Hinata was walking down the street to the hospital. No one was out walking the street and Hinata found that peaceful. In the east you could see the horizon lighting up but stars could still be seen.

Hinata turned the corner and walked up to the hospital. She cleared the steps and opened the door to a disinfectant smell. She ignored it and walked up to a nurses station to clock in. Once that was done she gave a small wave to the nurse and walked into the elevator. She clicked the third floor button and was carried to her office.

Hinata closed the door to her office and took off her shuriken holster and ninja pouch. She placed them on the desk that she was going to have to find time to clean and put on her white lab coat. It reached about two inches above her knee and she tied it around her middle.

A knock sounded on her door. Hinata looked at the clock, 5:37 a.m. is what it read. Hinata went to the door to see Shizune holding TonTon.

"Yes?" Hinata asked her in quiet voice. Shizune smiled a little.

"There's a patient that just came back from his mission and he asked for you to heal him," Shizune explained. Hinata's lilac eyes widened a little in shock. No one usually requested her to heal them. It was surprising, to say the least.

"Alright. What room?" Hinata requested softly. Shizune's smile grew a bit larger.

"Room 203, Hinata," she told her. Hinata nodded and Shizune left to walk down the hall with TonTon. Hinata pulled off a hair tie and pulled back most of her purplish black hair to the nape of her neck, only her bangs were left out of the ponytail.

Hinata walked down the stairs after closing her office door. Once on the second floor, she walked past two rooms and stopped at the third. She looked up and saw the room number 203. Her hand pulled the door to the left and the sight of Naruto greeted her.

Hinata felt her face heat up. Naruto requested me?! Hinata felt she would pass out from the joy. It was like he was really starting to notice her.

"Hey, Hinata. How's it going?" Naruto grinned at her. She smiled a little in return and walked into the room and shut the door. She was trying to keep her blush under control, but the pink tinted cheeks didn't die down.

"Hi, Naruto. I'm fine," Hinata answered walking over to him with her hand to her mouth. Naruto's smile grew.

"I'm glad. Do you think you could heal the cut on my side?" Naruto indicated to where his hand was holding his right side. Blood seeped through his fingers and dripped on his coat and table he was sitting on. On his left arm was a diagonal cut from shoulder to elbow, and many small cuts and bruises all over his body in various places. Hinata walked over to him to examine him closer.

"Naruto, what happened?" Hinata quietly asked. Her fingers went to the cut on his side but didn't touch it yet.

"I was fighting sound ninja to get back Sakura," Naruto's smile disappeared and he looked away from her.

"Did you get her back?" Hinata asked slowly. Her eyes held concern for him; she went closer to him. Somehow, though, she already knew his answer.

"We had her but then we lost her," Naruto said sadly. Hinata knew Naruto really missed Sakura, they were the best of friends.

"Naruto, you'll get her back," Hinata told him with a slight smile. Naruto looked at her and turned serious.

"Hinata, can I ask you something?" Naruto was fully serious now and she was blushing a little harder. Hinata nodded, he continued, "If you loved a guy and he left you, would you run away from your village to be with him?"

Hinata may not have known what to expect but she sure as hell didn't think he'd come to her for advise. Just the thought made her happy and she smiled at him. It was a sad smile. She knew if Naruto left the village for good then she would follow, without doubt, without question, no matter what..

Hinata unzipped the jacket that was torn apart and pushed it off his shoulders. She then did the same thing to his black undershirt. Once it was off, both of them froze.

Hinata had no clue what she had been doing and now she had just taken off half of Naruto's clothes. Her face was more red than blood and to cover up her embarrassment she put her hands on his cut and pushed chakra though it, looking anywhere but him.

She felt him relax under her finger tips and tried to ignore the sun kissed muscled skin that she could so easily see. And drool over.

"If a guy I loved left my village then there would be no doubt in my mind that I would follow him to the ends of the earth just to see him," Hinata answered softly, thanking God that she wasn't stuttering. She wouldn't lie to him. His shoulders slumped and face turned sad. He looked the opposite way from her in order to hide his disappointment.

"But Naruto, Sakura is a lot stronger in that situation than I would ever be. Love makes people to crazy things but Sakura is loyal to her village. She wouldn't leave it and everything she worked so hard for to be with Sasuke," Hinata tried to console him. Naruto looked at her, his blue eyes still dull.

"But you said love makes people do crazy things. Leaving the village is a crazy thing," Naruto said, his voice was still disappointed, saddened.

"It does, Naruto. But Sakura lived without Sasuke once, I think she's strong enough to do it again," Hinata reassured him. He gaze locked with her's and seemed to brighten up at her faith in Sakura.

"Thanks, Hinata," Naruto told her, relieved and smiled at her.

"Anytime you need me, Naruto," Hinata returned. Naruto then looked away to blush at her comment. He had spent way, way, way too much time with Pervy Sage. Speaking of Pervy Sage, Naruto still had a favor.

"Hey, Hinata? Do you think you could sew together my favorite jacket? I was mobbed by these prostitutes," Naruto grinned at her sheepishly. There was no way he was going to part with his favorite jacket any time soon.

She looked at him a little confused, but she nodded all the same.

* * *

Sasuke looked at the sky. The sun had just peeked over the horizon, shining on the clouds making them pink. He was leaning against a tree truck with Sakura laying on his chest still out cold. Sasuke sighed and stroked her pink hair.

She kept it short, that was fine with him. She looked better when it was short. But the color was annoying, still annoying, but he doubted she'd be Sakura if she wasn't annoying.

She stirred, her hand went acrossed her body to find his skin that was still uncovered as he couldn't put his hatori on with her in his arms. She turned slightly and buried her face in his chest.

Sakura's eyes partially opened. She was on something hard and warm. It felt nice and she snuggled closer. Wait. Hard and warm…? Sakura looked up to see onyx eyes studying her. Holy crap, she was laying on Sasuke! She moved out of his arms, shocked that she could fall asleep like that and landed on her butt.

She moved too fast and was instantly got dizzy. One hand went behind her to steady herself and Sasuke grabbed the collar of her sheer white shirt and pulled her forward a little.

"Don't move so fast. There's still side effects of the jutsu," he growled, then let go of her shirt. If you could count that as a shirt. He could see the outline of her bra and knew that it snapped together in the front. He also knew that being with her was dangerous. He wondered if she would hold it against him if he jumped her. Probably not.

"Right. I was just surprised to wake up like that," she confessed, light pink dusted her cheeks. As soon as she said then she wanted to take them back. She was never that open with anyone other than Naruto.

"It's not the first time you've woken up like that," Sasuke pointed out. Well, that was true, he remembered on one occasion when they had a C-ranked mission as genin Sasuke found himself waking up with Sakura curled up to his chest when they rested for the night in a forest. He just stared at her, not really knowing how to handle the situation.

"That was a long time ago," Sakura said, trying to reasonable. She didn't even know how she ended up there in the first place. But when she did wake up Sasuke was staring at her and she accidentally screamed and ended up waking up Naruto and Kakashi. Naruto was pissed and tried to immediately pull them apart. Kakashi just smirked at them under the cover of his mask and told them they were moving out.

"Whatever," he returned. Sakura crawled back over to him and touched his side wound. He flinched involuntarily.

"The bleeding stopped, but you need it healed," she told him, going professional. He was glad to hear it. He'd have Karin fix it later, inwardly shuddering at the thought. Sasuke stood and looked down at her. His skin wasn't as pale as it was last night and his lips looked as soft as ever. No! Bad thoughts, very bad thoughts.

"Can you stand?" Sasuke asked pulling his hatori back on. It glided over his arms and rested on his broad shoulders. Before Sasuke put the hatori over his shoulders Sakura noticed a scratch mark on his right one. She blushed.

"Yeah, I can," to prove it Sakura made to stand. Half way she lost her balance and fell forward. She fell into Sasuke and his arm instinctively wrapped around her. He felt her soft body and body heat that soaked though his clothes. He let go immediately and took a step back.

"Be careful. Come on, we have to get you back to Konoha," Sasuke ordered. The sun reached his hair. It brightened around his head like a halo. Like a dark angel.

**Insert drool here!**

_I am this close to kicking your ass!_

**Yeah, yeah. Whatever.**

Sakura pulled herself out of the start of another argument with herself to realize Sasuke's words.

"You're going back?" Sakura asked. He said he'd come back, but he had to rest first. He shouldn't push himself.

"I'm taking you back," he corrected. Sakura narrowed her eyes. Did she look like she needed help crossing the damn street? If he took her back then he'd risk getting caught or Sakura would crumble and beg him to not leave her.

"I can take myself back," she insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't need him to see her break down again, that was something she promised herself.

"And if you pass out on the way again, you'll be a sitting duck," Sasuke reasoned with her. Why did she have to be so damn stubborn? Couldn't she understand that he didn't want anything to happen to her?

"I'm not five. I can take care of myself," she had the urge to stomp her foot but resisted it.

"You look five from were I'm standing," Sasuke hissed. Damn it, couldn't she just go with the flow for once? He was beginning to question his sanity because he loved her. She could be so damn difficult.

"Then get a new view. You don't need to be my escort," Sakura defied, still not giving into him. Sasuke stepped up to her, their bodies not an inch apart. He took his hand and cupped her cheek, then smashed their lips together. Before Sakura could respond to anything he backed away from her. Butterflies erupted in her stomach and she fought back the blush.

"I've had a lot of views of you. Let's go," Sasuke said huskily. It was so sexy.

"That's not fair," Sakura demanded. This time she stomped her foot, indicating that she wasn't going anywhere. Sasuke was tired of this and was getting very annoyed. So, he picked her up and threw her over his left shoulder. "WHAT the HELL?! Put me down, you ass!"

Sasuke leaped to the trees and Sakura grabbed onto his clothing to keep steady, but that didn't stop her from shouting.

"Put me down, damn it. You asshole, I said put me down!" she yelled at him. Sasuke was trying very hard not to tell her to shut the fuck up. But, when she continued to yell, his hand slapped her ass and she made a little squeaking noise.

"Shut up, there might be enemy ninja that will find us if you don't stop talking," he hissed at her. She growled at him.

"You'll pay for that, Uchiha," she choked out trying to give his back the most dirty glare on the planet. Sasuke smirked and cocked his eyebrow, turning his head to look back at her.

"I look forward to it," he told her suggestively. Sakura looked away to hide her blush. _Damn him. And his hands._

* * *

**A/N: well there you go. Hope you had fun reading. I sure as hell had fun writing it J**

**Until next time readers.A REVIEW or TWO would be nice. And was the ass slapping kinda weird? I didn't know what else to do to have Sasuke shut her up.**


	10. Did I fail?

**A/N: to all who reviewed…………you guys are freaking awesome. Now I was asked if I was going to make this story longer than entailed. I want your guys' opinion. Do I leave it with an epilogue or go on and continue after Sasuke returns to Konoha? Just put it in a review, my lovelies.**

**Disclaimer: do I freakin' look like Kishimoto to you? No, didn't think so.**

* * *

Tsunade sat at her desk, back facing the door, looking at the window. Konoha looked as strong as ever with the Hokage mountain standing proudly. This was her village, the village she had found love, loss and then left. She was responsible for every person that lived there, but she failed one of the one's that meant the most to her.

Sakura. Sitting at her desk wasn't going to find Sakura and Tsunade knew it but she couldn't leave the village again either. She'd had a concussion that Shizune had worried about and Tsunade was allowed no sudden movements or sleep without being woke up every hour.

The team sent to find Sakura had so far turned up nothing. They went to the bombed base and said they had found her tail, but it disappeared in the surrounding woods. The woods weren't even that thick, how could they not find her, damn it.

Tsunade lifted the bottle of sake she had been holding at her side and took a long swig of it. She licked her lips to make sure no sake went to waste. Tsunade sighed and took another drink. This wasn't the best way to deal with no news of Sakura or her concussion but reason was thrown out the window when loved ones became involved.

A knock on the door came and Tsunade didn't bat an eyelash or turn around. She just allowed them in. Tsunade heard the clacking of heels and knew it to be Shizune.

"Lady Tsunade, what are you doing?" Shizune asked coming acrossed the room to stand beside Tsunade. She flashed a bitter smile to herself.

"What I do best," Tsunade answered, drinking more. She didn't look at Shizune or the sake bottle, just the Hokage heads. She'd put money on it that her grandfather, the first Hokage, hadn't let this happen to one of his students. Shizune stared out the window, a worried expression came over her face.

"Getting drunk isn't what you do best, it's what you like to do," Shizune reasoned looking down at her blonde Hokage.

"What are you here for?" Tsunade asked flatly. She wanted to be alone, couldn't anyone see that? Shizune was taken aback by the abrupt question but quickly recovered.

"The team sent after Sakura has found nothing of her yet," she reported. Shizune saw Tsunade get slightly irritated.

"If they have enough time to report failure then they should take that time and find Sakura," Tsunade said with light menace. Shizune looked worried once again.

"Drinking isn't going to bring her back," she said gently. A bitter laugh escaped the Hokage's throat.

"Of course it won't, but what else can I do? Sakura is missing and I failed to find her and bring her back. She could be dead or dying and I couldn't do a damn thing about it, could I?" Tsunade asked rhetorically, squeezing the sake bottle just a little tighter.

"That's what this is about? You 'failed'? You can't be guilty over things you have no control over," Shizune said, almost exasperated with her.

"No control my ass. If I hadn't sent her on that damn mission then she would still be here right now and I could be doing paperwork," Tsunade argued.

"If not Sakura, then who? Sakura's strong, she can deal with it. If anyone else went then they might not have made it because they might not have had Sakura's willpower. Sakura was kidnapped by Orochimaru for a reason. He would have just waited until another mission to take her. She was singled out, that's not you're fault," Shizune preached. There was no way Shizune was letting Tsunade blame herself and sink into depression.

"Who's to say it's not?" Tsunade countered.

"Who's to say it is?" Shizune returned. "Look this will not help Sakura in any way. Go to sleep and I'll be up to check on you in about an hour or so." Shizune walked acrossed the room but made it half way before stopping at Tsunade's voice.

"Did I fail Sakura? As Hokage?" Tsunade asked quietly looking at the rising morning sun. Shizune turned slightly to see the back of her master's chair.

"I don't think you could fail Sakura as Hokage," Shizune told her just as quietly and walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Tsunade watched the sun turn the sky from pale pink to a bright orange, she sighed. At least she knew she could always count on Shizune. Then, she took another drink of sake. No point in letting it go to waste.

* * *

Two men dressed in dark robes walked out of a town near the Village hidden in the Clouds. One carried nothing while another carried a wrapped up package on his back. Both had an ominous aura of evil and power. But in the forest the only things that ran away were the animals.

They walked at a slow pace, in no hurry to get back home. At their 'home' there would surely be hell to pay knowing they failed once again. They would require preparation to plead their case, so they would not get killed.

"Hey, Itachi, what are you thinking?" Kisame asked, his blue skin appearing lighter in the just risen sun.

"How to make sure we stay alive," Itachi answered. He rarely spoke, much less answered questions, but he knew if Kisame didn't know what he was thinking then he would surely blow the plan that Itachi was cooking up.

"We failed again, so how exactly will the Leader not skin us alive?" Kisame asked sarcastically but fear under lay in his tone. Everyone did or should fear the Leader, he was cold, ruthless, and very polite while he was doing it.**(A/N:I don't actually know if Pein is polite while he's evil but we'll just say he is for now)**

"We will set him up with a proposal," Itachi said, slightly getting irritated that he had to talk. The silence was so much better than when Kisame opened his mouth.

"A proposal of what kind?" he asked, intrigued.

"The killing kind," Itachi answered cryptically, hoping Kisame would just let it go. This was not the case.

"Specifics, Itachi," Kisame requested. Itachi let out an inaudible sigh, there was no getting around a curious Kisame. His eyesight went out of focus but he blinked a few times to bring it somewhat back. Itachi knew that it was only a matter of time before he went completely blind.

"I'm going to suggest that we attack the hidden Leaf village," Itachi answered, bluntly. Kisame was at a loss.

"That's stupid, we'd all get ourselves killed one way or an other," Kisame reasoned. The dirt path they were on was leading them away from the closure of the forest and into the flat plains.

"I won't explain now, it's too open, we could be overheard," Itachi cautioned. Kisame looked around and decided to drop the subject.

* * *

Naruto stepped out of the shower in his orange towel, then walking to his dresser to find clothes that he could wear to Ichiraku's. With Hinata having his favorite jacket, he settled with an older one, a black undershirt and a new clean pair of orange pants.

Naruto walked out of his apartment and locked up. He hoped that Ichiraku's would open this early in the morning, it was just barely after sun rise. Naruto ran down the path that he had taken almost every morning and stopped in front of the Ichiraku shop. The lights were blazing and the smell was to die for.

Naruto seated himself and made a miso, beef, chicken, and rice ramen order for the shop owner. The order came up within five minutes. Miso was his favorite so he saved that for last and chowed on the chicken ramen. The sound of moving fabric made its way to Naruto's ears and he turned to find Hinata.

"Hey, Hinata. What are you doing here? I thought you were at the hospital and all," Naruto asked mouth full of ramen. Hinata blushed a little and gave him a small smile while she sat beside him. Naruto instantly remembered what happened the last time they had ramen together. His face had a pinkish tint as he turned to Hinata.

"I'm on break, and the hospital is slow right now so my superior said I could go out for breakfast," Hinata softly replied.

"Aww, that's cool. So do you normally eat breakfast here, cuz I'm here almost every morning and I don't see you," Naruto asked after swallowing the last of his chicken ramen.

"No, I, um, usually don't but this was the closest place," Hinata said, looking him in the eye. She felt butterfly wings flutter in her stomach, her heart had started to race in her chest. Naruto just grinned in answer and picked up the rice bowl of ramen.

"Naruto, I heard that you weren't supposed to go on the mission to find Sakura. Why did you end up going? The Akatsuki--," Hinata was cut off.

"That's all I ever hear is Akatsuki this and Akatsuki that. I'm not letting those punks ruin my life. If Sakura's in trouble then there's no way I'm going to sit by and watch her suffer, that's not my nindo," Naruto explained looking down at the ramen, but not touching it just yet. He looked up at her. "Wouldn't do the same thing if it was Kiba or Shino?"

Her response was immediate. "Yes, I would." Naruto grinned and turned back to the bowl in front of him.

"See, there's your answer," Naruto then proceeded to take a huge bite of his rice ramen.

"Are you going to go after her again?" Hinata asked. She was curious and her butterflies in her stomach were becoming increasingly noticeable.

"Yeah, after I finish here then I'm going to go to Granny Tsunade's and tell her I'm going," Naruto said slurping up more ramen. Hinata swallowed and set her jaw.

"Good luck, Naruto," Hinata said, looking at him more intensely than necessary. Naruto looked up at her tone. He had to admit to himself that it was kinda sexy, he then blushed a little himself. Naruto, then had no idea what he was doing, and found himself embracing Hinata.

He held her tight, his hands were wrapped around her back, his face almost on her shoulder. Hinata had had her hands in front of her, now they were between Naruto and herself. He was warm and smelled fresh. Hinata's hands gripped the front of his jacket. She unconsciously buried her face in Naruto's chest.

"Ahem," someone from the door interrupted. Naruto and Hinata turned their heads to one ticked off looking Neji. "Hope I'm not interrupting something." There was a muscle ticking in his eyebrow.

"No, cousin, I was just going," Hinata responded. Reluctantly they let go of each other and Hinata went back in the direction of the hospital. Neji turned to Naruto.

"What were you doing to her?" he interrogated. Naruto didn't see what he was so pissed about, it was just a hug. _A nice,_ _soft, warm, intoxicating…..Whoa, slow down. Bad train of thoughts._

"It was just a hug, don't get your panties in a knot," Naruto said setting aside the empty bowl that was once rice ramen.

"Don't lead her on," Neji cautioned. His lilac gaze seemed to look through him. It was very unsettling.

"I'm leading anyone anywhere," Naruto reassured. Naruto could deal with Neji, but it was Hiashi that was the problem. Neji walked away with one last glare sent in his direction. Naruto ignored it and went back to beef ramen.

* * *

Now that Sakura wasn't yelling anymore, she didn't have to be carried by Sasuke again. Though when she was over his shoulder she did get a good view of his ass. But that train of thought, she had to shake off. Sasuke knew what was up with her just by looking at her face.

He'd definitely be able to tell that she was thinking perverted thoughts. Blame Kakashi, she had went to his favorite book store to buy him a new Make-out paradise novel for his birthday and just couldn't help but read it a little. Sakura had never seen such porn in her life, she didn't even know you could have sex like they described and depicted in those books. It wasn't funny, it was disturbing.

Forcing her thoughts back to the present, Sakura jumped to the next tree. They were in Waterfall Country now, three hours before they hit the Fire border. Sasuke didn't even seem to mind going back the gates of the village he left. At least that was what it looked like, but looks can be deceiving.

Sakura looked at the sky again, blood red. The sun was setting on another day. Sakura hadn't even noticed that they had been traveling almost all day. It appeared that Sasuke wanted to travel through the night too. Guess he really wanted to kill his brother. Sakura stole a peek at Sasuke.

She gasped. His left arm was holding his right side, which was bleeding like mad. Sasuke was sweating and it went down his cheek, to his neck. How long had he been like this?

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Sakura asked slowing to a stop. Sasuke stopped on a branch in front of her. He didn't turn.

"Fine," he answered shortly. Sasuke was panting, dragging in each painful breath. The wound had ached before but then it reopened and started bleeding again. Sasuke was aware that he was sweating but the wound seemed to tear more with every breath he took.

"Don't lie to me, Sasuke," Sakura said, coming up in his left. She stepped in front of him and took his hand away from the wrapped wound. Blood darkened the already black bandages and was slowly running down Sasuke's side like cold syrup.

"I'm fine, let's keep moving," Sasuke insisted. Sakura gave him a what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you look. There was no way in the deepest bowels of hell that he was running all the way to Konoha like this.

"You're moving straight to a bed tonight," Sakura demanded. She took his left arm and put it around her shoulders. He just glared at her, but didn't make a move to stop her.

"Sakura there is no bed around here," Sasuke pointed out. She gave him an exasperated look.

"Not even half a mile to the east of here is a village, we get a hotel room and I find normal medical supplies," she told him. Her tone left no room for argument and Sasuke just went along with it, the pain was catching up to him, going straight to his head.

Twenty minutes later, they were on the outskirts of a town that appeared to be a merchant exchange. The sun had fully set by now and the town seemed to be alive. Lights danced in every corner, people swayed on every street, and the whole town was pumped and alive.

Sakura half carried Sasuke in the shadows and avoided people at all cost. She dragged him through a quieter part of town and found a twenty-four hour cheap hotel. They walked in and clerk looked at them in amazement. Obviously this didn't happen to him a lot.

"We need a room for one night," Sakura told him, strained. She smiled at him, trying to appear like she didn't have some hot sex god oozing blood and glaring because of pain on her shoulder.

"Darling, it looks like you need a hospital," the man replied. He was gay, from the way he spoke. His eyelinered eyes widened upon examining Sasuke more.

"No, just a room," Sakura smiled bigger, faker. She wanted to do anything but smile. He gave her a skeptical look but got a room key anyway.

"Alright, but don't get any blood on the floor," he cautioned, putting his semi-long brown hair behind his ear. "Room seven, honey. Shout if you need anything." The clerk looked at Sasuke's glower and shivered.

"Thank you," she told him, relieved and hauled a semi conscious semi glaring Sasuke to room seven and unlocked the door. She pulled him in and had no time look at the pastel colored walls or the beige comforter on the bed. Sakura pulled Sasuke to the bathroom and set him down on the edge of the bath tub.

"Sasuke, take a shower and I'll go and get bandages," Sakura explained. She turned but Sasuke grabbed her wrist. She looked down at him, he looked up intensely.

"Be careful," he warned. She smiled, he was worried for her at time like this? It was enough to make her heart melt and soul sing. She leaned down and kissed him on his lips, just for a moment, and pulled back. His eyes seemed a little more wide, but other than that he acted like he was used to her kissing him.

"I will, promise," she told him. His black eyes seemed to soften as she shut the bathroom door. Sakura power walked down the hall and out the hotel door to find a twenty-four hour convenience store.

She didn't have to look long, three blocks down there was a little shop open. Sakura went through the door and walked through the aisle looking for the medical aisle. She stopped at the sixth and turned to get a better look at its contents.

There, Sakura found gauze, healing ointment, band aids, and antiseptic. She took the gauze, antiseptic, and healing ointments for Sasuke and went to the counter. She took the money out of her bra, where she stored it, and paid the old man who was working the register. With her bag in hand Sakura left the quiet store made her way down the street.

Only a block away from Sasuke and the hotel she let out a breath of relief. These streets made her a little nervous. Not that she should, but she left the ninja tools she stole from a sound ninja with Sasuke in the room and she still had the damn choker on her neck.

"Hey, Pretty thing. How'd you like a night with The Man?" a thug asked her. She instantly froze and looked up from the road she'd been staring at. Three punks in black were in front of her. She took in their appearance.

The one that spoke was tall, dark haired and a disgusting grin on his face. The other two were twins, both almost blonde and dressed in, what looked like, black leather. She inwardly cringed at their intention, but three little punks shouldn't be too much to handle.

"'The Man' doesn't interest me much. Get out of my way," she demanded, her hold on the bag tightened.

"Don't be like that, Baby," the leader said, walking closer to her. She stood her ground, not letting him back her in a corner. The other two snickered. "You don't know how fun it'll be."

"Not interested," Sakura told the still advancing leader. Just a little closer and she could hit him, then run for it. The guy stood in front of her now. He smelled of alcohol and her vision went out for a moment. A second later she got it back.

"Who said you had a choice?" he whispered. Sakura took the heel of her hand thrust it in his nose. She heard the bones crack as he cried out. Sakura side stepped him and ran for it. One of the thug twins blocked her way, she went up and he tried a right hook that she dodged.

Her hand was caught behind her and twisted painfully, almost to the breaking point. The bag dropped from her hand and landed on the ground. She was turned around and the leader came up holding his nose.

"Bitch. You'll pay for that," he declared, almost close enough to hit, but he had learned his lesson, obviously and stayed out of her reach. She snorted at him. The man closed the distance between them and raised a hand to slap her.

But the hand seemed to caught on something, then a foot came from behind the guy and hit him in the head, knocking him sideways. The grip on Sakura loosened and she took advantage and wrench her from one of the twins grip. She turned and kneed him in the stomach. He fell to his knees. Sakura looked up to see Sasuke punching the other twin's jaw. He, too, fell to the ground.

Sasuke was clutching his right side as he turned to look at Sakura. She grabbed the bag and ran to him, looking over him for anymore injuries opened.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked as she braced him on her shoulders and started back to the hotel. The sooner they got out of here the better Sasuke would feel. No one touches Sakura like that. They better be glad Sasuke was injured.

"What? No 'thank you'?" Sasuke asked, a little sarcastic. He limped on with Sakura's help. In truth his gut had told him something was wrong. He had stepped out of the shower and donned clothes, then just had to find Sakura. When he did find her she was held by a couple thugs and there was no way he was just going to watch.

"Thanks. Now why are you here?" Sakura pressed. The dumbass shouldn't be walking around staining himself and his injuries. He could pass out from blood loss or some such thing. Sasuke sure as hell shouldn't be fighting thugs, even though the gesture was a sweet one.

"I just thought you in trouble," Sasuke answered truthfully, seeing no point in lying. He had already swallowed his pride.

"How?" she asked, looking confused.

"Probably the same way you knew I was leaving Konoha the night I left," Sasuke hissed, a wave of pain just swept through his body, making him tremble a little.

Sakura smiled. "Thank you, Sasuke."

Yeah, maybe that was it, the bond they still shared. They were at the hotel doors and thankfully the clerk wasn't there. They hobbled down the hallway and stopped at the door with a number seven on it. The door was unlocked and Sakura took Sasuke to the bathroom. The bleeding wasn't stopping and she needed to change his bandages.

Sakura shut the bathroom door and put Sasuke on the edge of the tub again. She took off his hatori and sliced through the make-shift bandages with a kunai that was on the bed.

Sasuke was stiff, the pain had ebbed off a little but was now back in full force. It was hard to ignore and Sasuke tried to feel the hands that moved so gently on his chest. The breath that caressed his shoulder, and the small movements of the woman in front of him.

Sakura had taken a wet cloth and wiped off the blood that was seeping out of the gaping wound. She, then, sprayed antiseptic on it and heard Sasuke take in a sharp breath. She let the foam eat away the germs on the wound and sprayed it again. She put the healing ointment on the gauze and wrapped it fully on the wound. She made sure to cover every inch of the wound.

Sakura stepped into the tub and behind Sasuke. "This will hurt worse," she told him. Sasuke just nodded his head, throwing his spiked hair in more disarray. Sakura sprayed the antiseptic on the wound she had stitched up and Sasuke's eyes scrunched up in more pain. Sasuke felt her wrap that wound too.

When she was done she stepped out of tub and faced Sasuke. She knelt down to his eye level. "Are you okay?" she asked gently. Sasuke opened his dark eyes to look at her. Those eyes studied her face then looked down at his bandaged wound.

"I will be," Sasuke told her. She smiled a little and brought him up to stand. Sakura blinked a little fighting off the dizziness she suddenly felt. She led Sasuke out of the bathroom and onto the bed. Both needed sleep, that was something they couldn't argue about. Sakura turned around but Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

"Stay here," he said, and pulled her to the bed. She looked at him, surprised. But then she crawled on it and looked at Sasuke like he lost his mind. He just smirked and closed his eyes, instantly falling asleep. Sakura took the opportunity and snuggled up to him. That was how they slept throughout the rest of the night.

* * *

**A/N: damn, that took forever. Especially the NaruHina part, first I edited it, then reedited it, then while I was doing a read through, I screwed up the placement of the words (somehow) and had to retype the neji part. See, I originally wanted neji to interrupt naruto and hinata in the last chapter at the hospital, but it would have killed the moment, so I figured they could meet at Ichiraku's.**

**Oh and don't forget about the question up top and visit my profile. There's a poll I'd like you guys to vote for. It's for when I'm done with this story. So, you'll be reviewing right about now.**


	11. Denied

**A/N: just so you know…..your reviews are too lovely for words.goes into anime tears okay, I'm over that, now. So the new chapter is here. And I think I'll continue this story. I have a few good ideas brewing. And I think my grandma hates me or something. She was like glaring at me for more than 10 seconds and it was weirding me out. Anyways, now that that's over….**

**Disclaimer: sigh me don't own, cuz I'm not a genius like Kishimoto-sama.**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

"You expect me to attack the Leaf village because you two failed?" the cold question was sarcastic. But it still continued, "Did I not tell you that working with a fool like Orochimaru would bring failure? Did I not say that it was stupid? Did I not tell you what would happen if you failed like I knew you would?"

The voice was calm, casual even. But that made it all the more dangerous. The Akatsuki leader's eyes burned into his subordinates. They had failed yet again to bring the fox demon boy and now they thought to bribe him with meaningless plans. He would not stand for it.

"Leader, please, hear us out," Itachi requested. It was known that Itachi was the leader's favorite. Which, Kisame suspected, was the only reason they were alive. To which he was grateful for.

"Speak," the leader demanded. He looked down at them as they kneeled. Even from behind his desk he could smell fear.

"To attack Konoha directly would be suicide, that was not was I meant. But going under the ranks of the village and learning their weakness, they would definitely fall," Itachi said. His face watched the rust red rug as he waited for his leader's response.

"Continue, Itachi," he commanded.

"If we had one of our own go in the village under cover, they could figure out their weak points and then sneak us in during the cover of night and the massacre would be as silent as if it never happened," Itachi went into detail. He had planned it all as him and Kisame walked back to home base.

The leader seemed to think it over. The silence was thick, tension high. "If I did allow this to happen, who would you have in mind for the infiltration?" the leader was thoughtful. This could actually work. While in the village, not only grab the kyuubi, but murder enough Konoha ninja before they were found out to make the village fall.

"I would think to let Deidara have fun with this assignment," Itachi responded. Deidara was complaining what little action he's gotten in the past few months. Truth be told, the leader was trying to come up with ways to get the fox during that time and watching Itachi fail was not putting him in the best of moods. But he could warm up to Itachi's plan.

"You really trust him not to blow it?" the leader questioned, eyebrows raised.

"No, but he is better with people than the rest of us," Itachi claimed. The Akatsuki weren't people persons but Deidara would be the logical choice.

"You have thought this out well, Itachi," the leader complimented.

"Thank you," he bowed just a little lower.

"I'll think about your plan, Itachi, for now you both are dismissed," the leader demanded. Both ninja stood and walked out of his office without a word to each other. Once the door shut and they were safely down the hallway Kisame let out a relieved sigh.

"You know, when you said you were proposing to attack Konoha I thought you were losing your mind, but this seems like genius," Kisame said. His posture was relaxing with every breath and step he took away from the leader's office.

"It's a simple plan, really. I wonder why no one else ever thought of it," Itachi said in response to Kisame. Kisame just shrugged his shoulders. Who cares, it's thought of now.

* * *

Naruto paced in front of the Hokage's office. Which was where he had been since she refused to see him after breakfast with Hinata. When he had gotten there that morning Shizune told him she was taking no visitors. But it was midnight now and she still hadn't seen him.

It didn't matter how hard Naruto tried to get in her office, nothing worked. It was probably some jutsu that Naruto didn't know about. The door didn't work, not even if his used rasengan. Which he tried many times.

The vent didn't work, it wouldn't even let Naruto get in the vent to try. Lastly, scaling the building to get to the widow didn't work, because the blinds were down and he couldn't crack the window. When he tried, Naruto fell from the fifth story building which had him go see Hinata again.

Naruto even went as far as to go into the rooms beside the Hokage's office and bust the walls in there. Not even that worked. So here he was; pacing the length of the door, where a path in the floor had started to immerge about three hours ago.

Naruto didn't get it. Why was Tsunade not taking any callers? What the hell was her problem? Was she busying trying to figure out were Sakura might have gone? Was she dead in there or something? Naruto stopped at the last thought. He was going overboard. Naruto then stood in front of the door, shoulders squared, head high.

He took a hold of the door knob and, to his surprise, it opened. The door didn't creak or make any noise. Naruto walked in and looked around the dimmed room. He could make out a lump on the desk, not moving. Without closing the door, Naruto walked over to the form and realized that Tsunade was asleep.

Beneath her were maps, charts, a compass, documents with town names on them, and a few empty sake bottles. Naruto's expression softened. She was trying to predict were Sakura would go. At least she wasn't just blowing him off. Tsunade let out a slight snore and shifted a little.

Naruto went utterly still. When Tsunade was done moving he saw she had a map under her. A circled part of it in red was were her head had just rested. He was just about to get a better look when he heard footsteps outside the door. Naruto looked up and saw a shadow passing over the opposite wall. Hinata soon came into view. She glanced at the office and then, upon seeing Naruto, did a double take.

_Why does she always end up were I am?_ Naruto thought. He felt his face warm, all the way down his neck. _And why is she_ _here at midnight?_

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice quiet. Hinata stayed in the doorway, pink in the face.

"Just trying to talk to Granny Tsunade. What are you doing here, so late at night?" he whispered, not wanting to wake Tsunade. She gave him a puzzled looked. What? Did he say something stupid? Now he was starting to feel self conscious.

"Naruto, it's six o'clock in the morning," Hinata told him. Her face still mystified. His eyes grew wide. Was it really? Did he lose that much track of time?

"Seriously?" Naruto asked. It was hard to believe. He not only wasted all day, but all night as well.

Hinata nodded. She walked acrossed the threshold and stopped beside Naruto. He had circles under his eyes, his skin paler than usual, and was standing with a slight slump. She guessed, if he didn't know the time, then he had gotten no sleep, at all.

"Whoa, I didn't even notice," Naruto said, his hand scratched the back of his head nervously. Why did she have to be so close? Hinata went into a cabinet behind the Hokage's desk and rummaged threw it. Once she found what she was looking for, she pulled it out and placed a blanket on Lady Tsunade.

A small smile tugged on Naruto's lips as he watched this. She'd be a real good mother to someone. Instantly, Naruto imaged her putting a blanket over a small boy with blond hair and Hyuuga eyes. He shook it off and regained his composure.

"Hey, Hinata," he whispered, "how about Ichiraku's?" He asked the question on impulse alone.

Hinata bypassed flushed and went straight to beet red. Was he asking her out on breakfast date? Or did he do this with people he knew all the time? As much as she'd love the date, if that's what it was, he needed to sleep.

"Naruto, I-I actually think you need to s-sleep first," she whispered back. Naruto studied her for a minute, then nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but how about when I wake up?" Naruto asked. For some reason, he didn't want her to say no and he would have this date….wait, no it was an outing. Yeah, that's what it was. He didn't need Neji or Hiashi after him. It was an outing. With Hinata. Alone. Just the two of them.

Hinata, so red she was glowing in the dark room, nodded her head. Speech seemed to be incapable at the moment for her. Naruto grinned, triumphant, and walked out the door of the Hokage's office and down the hallway.

"Don't tell he came all the way to my office to ask you on a date," a hoarse voice said. Startled, Hinata looked down, to see Tsunade looking up at her with the one eye that was visible.

"L-L-Lady T-Tsunade! You're a-awake!" Hinata stuttered. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it," Tsunade said, sitting up. She gave Hinata a sly look. "So this is why Sakura wanted me to give Naruto 'the talk.'"

"I-I-I don't k-know what your talking about," Hinata denied. Her face felt like it was on fire.

"Well, anyways, why was he here in the first place?" Tsunade asked. She didn't know if Hinata knew the answer, but it was worth a shot.

"He wanted to be given permission to leave the village so he could look for Sakura," Hinata told her, glad to be off the last subject.

"I told him he could go after he got healed up from his last mission, but I lied so he would come home in the first place. He's not leaving the village no matter what. The team that I sent out are on Sakura's trail, they just sent me a report," Tsunade confessed.

"That mission was a bad one. He was really hurt," Hinata commented.

"You healed him?" Tsunade asked. Hinata nodded.

"Yes, he had two major cuts, forty-seven small cuts and bruises, three broken ribs, and on fractured rib. His ankle was also bruised," Hinata reported.

"I told the little idiot he should come back. And I was right," Tsunade wore a smug smirk. "You can go back the hospital now."

"Yes," Hinata bowed herself out. Once the door closed, Tsunade looked down at the map. Soon, Sakura would be back. Very soon.

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes. She saw a swirl of pastel color and light. It was dawn. Her eyes closed. Not moving one inch from were she laid she knew Sasuke was in the bed with her like he was last night. She remembered falling asleep with him right next to her.

There was creak right behind her. Sakura shot off the bed, a second too late to realize that she wasn't armed. Sakura looked into onyx colored eyes. That was the only thing she saw, then felt a similar feeling of falling off a three hundred foot cliff. And she fell hard.

"Wake up, stop staring," the command came with slight annoyance. Sakura was jerked back to reality with a jolt. Sasuke was standing in front of her, hatori on, katana around his waist.

"I wasn't staring," Sakura denied softly. She was staring and it was rude to point it out as she was enjoying it.

"Lair," Sasuke teased. He really didn't have room to talk as he had been staring at her while she slept. To wake up in her arms was heaven, to leave the warmth of her embrace had left him in a pissy mood. He had woken up and instantly felt his blood pull to groin. Sasuke, then, had to think of anything other than the pink haired angel asleep, mouth slightly open, warm and inviting. The next step, when that didn't work, was to take a cold shower.

Once out, he changed his bandages, and donned clothes. Then came out to find her still sleeping. All he could do was watch her, the rise and fall of her chest, the long legs that stuck out from the blanket, and the expression on her face as she dreamed. He had taken one step, made a noise, and she sat up like she'd been shot. Staring at him hadn't helped his southern region either.

"Are we leaving already?" Sakura asked, lying back on the bed. His mouth seemed to go dry, every bid of blood he possessed flowing straight into his crotch. Her lips pouted. He walked up to the bed, trying to hide the fact that he was hard male.

"We're going, now," he commanded. The girl was a minx, she was turning his blood to fire, making him labor to breath, all just because she laid on a bed. He needed help. She sat up on her elbows.

"No need to demand, Sasuke," she teased. Sakura got up, once off the bed she and Sasuke were barely an inch apart. Her breath caught, her heart stopped. Then roared in her ears, breath was hard to come by. She forgot what she was talking about. Just looking in the darks of his eyes, she pressed against him. He pulled her mouth to his.

It was hard, raw, demanding. Sasuke pushed her on the bed, making her gasp. His tongue went into her mouth, exploring the hot cavern. Sakura felt like she a been lit on fire. She heard her heartbeat or was that Sasuke's heartbeat.

She felt his hands on every part of her body, like he couldn't get enough. His tongue swept her mouth, not giving her a chance to kiss him back. A vibrating sensation came over her, causing her to grip Sasuke. He pressed harder against her, making her groan.

Sasuke took his attack to her neck, sucking on it, nipping it. She moaned causing him to grow stiff. Sakura's nails raked his exposed chest that the hatori didn't cover. He shuddered as his response to her.

She smirked, but it was short lived when he rocked their cores together. A heavy tremor over came her. Stars came to her vision, she felt like she was on a high, so close to busting and falling to earth. He grinded onto her again, loving her feel.

Sasuke took her hands and trapped them, their fingers entwining. Sakura brought her legs around his waist, feeling the moisture grow and throb between her legs. Sasuke was stopped from his dangerous kisses at her shirt. He pressed against her more, there was no part of her that wasn't touching Sasuke. She arched into him.

A knock at the door sounded. "Housekeeping," a female voice came. Sasuke glared at the door and seemed to growl at it. Sakura joined in on the glaring.

"Son of a bitch," she said under her breath. Louder she said, "One moment, please."

"You're not actually thinking about letting her in, are you?" Sasuke demanded. His hard on was becoming painful. He almost glared at her.

"I have to let the woman to her job," Sakura returned. She pushed Sasuke off her and when to the door. A plump old lady with gray hair smiled at her, Sakura smiled back.

"Sorry to disturb you and your husband," she said. Sakura froze. So did Sasuke. She opened her mouth to deny it but the lady went right passed her. She closed her mouth.

"Whatever you say," she muttered under her breath, not really having the strength to argue. She looked at Sasuke. He was glaring at nothing in particular, just pissed that he was interrupted. Sakura walking into the bathroom took the mouth wash and rinsed since she didn't have proper tooth paste. One look at the tangled pink hair in total disarray, she knew her fingers couldn't comb through that mess.

On a further inspection of herself, there were purplish red marks starting to appear on her neck, her hair was in disarray, her clothes in shambles, lips redly swollen, and a very unsatisfied expression on her face. She was in a bad mood since she and Sasuke were interrupted.

Out of the bathroom, Sakura saw that Sasuke was no where to be found. She looked around and saw the maid making the bed. She went back in the bathroom and threw away the medical stuff that she had cleaned Sasuke with the night before and on the sink grabbed the weapons she stole.

Stepping into the main room again Sakura heard the door open to reveal Sasuke. He didn't come in the room and he didn't look at the maid. His gaze was locked to her, never wavering.

"Ready?" he asked, his eyes seemed to go through her like a high tech laser beam. She felt the sensation of tingles running up her body and back again.

"Yeah," she told him. She crossed the pastel room and joined Sasuke at the door. He stepped back, allowing her to pass, and shut the door on the maid.

* * *

After sleeping most of the day, Naruto woke up around dinner time. He went to look for Hinata and found she was just getting off her shift and they walked to the ramen shop. It went well, as Naruto kept his inappropriate thoughts to himself and didn't spill anything on Hinata this time.

Now, he stood in front of the door to the Hokage's office. It was sundown, the sky a glitter of reds, pinks, and oranges. He remembered that Sakura liked the look at sunset when Sasuke left. It really hurt him to watch her like that.

Breaking out of his memories, Naruto knocked on the door. He did this for one reason; to get on Granny Tsunade's good side. Naruto didn't wait long for the answer.

"Come in." Naruto set his face in a determined expression about to demand that he go find Sakura. He gripped the door knob and walked in. Tsunade was examining paper after paper and looked up at Naruto. There was fire in her eyes that told him this wasn't going to go well.

"I want to go find Sakura. I'm asking permission to leave the village to look for her," Naruto demanded. The Fifth's eyebrows raised, he had his face set. Nothing could deter him from leaving to find Sakura.

"Permission denied," Tsunade barked, glaring at the boy. She knew this would come, she was just sorry that Naruto wouldn't get what he wanted.

"I'm going to go and you know it," Naruto matched Tsunade's glare with one of his own. He was going, with or without permission.

"Listen to me you little brat, if I have to detain you from leaving this village I will but that's something for a last resort. You have my answer to your request and you're not going," Tsunade said with a little bite. If she had to hog tie his ass and throw him in a closet then she would do it, but he was not going to face the Akatsuki and die on her watch.

"DAMN IT, WHY?!" Naruto yelled at her. Didn't she understand that this was Sakura they were talking about? That it was his best friend? That she meant too much to him? After Naruto's outburst, Tsunade settled for ignoring the twitch on her forehead that came with his raised voice level.

"Because at the cost of you getting taking by the Akatsuki or someone working for them, Sakura would never recover, you would be dead, thousands of lives would be lost because of you getting taken, and the five great nations would fall! Do you get it now?!" Tsunade was on the verge of screaming at her soon to be protégé. Besides, Sakura wasn't dead or on the verge of death. She was with the Uchiha and very much alive.

Naruto was silent and Tsunade took that for understanding. She folded her hands in front of her face, wishing she had a very big bottle of sake at the moment.

"Naruto, I'm sorry. I can let you out for regular missions in Fire Country but I can't let you out farther than that. I'm sure Sakura is fine," Tsunade gentle told him. She felt bad for her lie, but it was to protect him.

"How can you be sure?" Naruto asked, looking at the floor, his face hidden. Tsunade winced inwardly at his tone.

"My team is following her trail. She's alive or she wouldn't have a trail to follow. She's also in good health otherwise my team would have caught her by now," Tsunade told him. He raised his head, hope filtered those gorgeous blue eyes. Naruto half smiled.

"Go home and wait for her return," Tsunade gently ordered. Naruto nodded slightly and turned to walk out the door. It didn't matter if they had found her trail. Naruto was too worried about Sakura whether she was alive or not.

Tonight, Naruto just may become a missing ninja. He had to see for himself, the worry that clawed his stomach, the fear he had for her, the friendship he didn't want to lose, it all smashed on him like a twenty foot wave swallowing him whole. For a second he couldn't breath, but he recovered and went to his apartment.

Tsunade heard the door click and looked back at her map. Sakura was headed south, to the village. With the Uchiha.

A peck on her window made her turn her chair to the window. A messenger bird with the leaf symbol on it was a her window. She opened the door to let the red bird in. Tsunade took the note report that was offered and the bird flew out the window. She unraveled the note.

_Lady Hokage, _

_Haruno and the Uchiha are a quarter mile from the north gate. We await your orders._

_-Kakashi_

* * *

**A/N: well this seems like a good place to stop. And if you wanted the lime between Sasuke and Sakura to turn to lemon, sorry, but this is T rated people. I know it kind of ends on a cliffy, but it was just the best way to end the chapter. And I thought the one-on-one with Tsunade and Hinata was called for. So, does anyone want to give a personality description on Deidara? So, that's all folks. coughreview!cough**


	12. How Long?

**A/N: My computer was totally screwed up, but instead of writing this, I wrote the second chapter of 'I will Survive' because the ideas wouldn't leave me the hell alone. So I wrote that in two days, and read books the other three days. Lazy bitch? Yeah, that's me.**

**Disclaimer: god don't you people get? I don't own it. worship before the Naruto gods Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and so on… I love you!**

**I'm totally good now.**

**_Enjoy_**

* * *

**_Previously,_**

_Lady Hokage, _

_Haruno and the Uchiha are a quarter mile from the north gate. We await your orders._

_ -Kakashi_

* * *

Kakashi had sent the bird ten minutes ago, now it perched on his shoulder. Kakashi and his group of dogs were right at the Northern gates. But then again, so were his former students. He let out a sigh, knowing that he was too far away for Sasuke to hear him, but close enough to hear.

He felt the heat of his mask from his breath as he looked at the star-spangled night sky. It crossed his mind that Sasuke knew he was following them and his gut instinct told him he was right.

Slowly, he unraveled the note the Lady Hokage had immediately sent back. His one eye closed, hoping and praying that he wasn't going to be ordered to kill anyone tonight, he clenched his teeth. His eye opened to read.

_Kakashi,_

_Stay and observe them. If there is no killing intent from the Uchiha, let them be. If Uchiha comes back with her, escort him to me. And if the Uchiha leaves her alone while she comes to the village, let him go._

_ -Lady Hokage_

This sigh he let out was a sigh of relief. When he was told that Sakura was missing, his mind went in immediate overdrive. Thinking of the worse possible situation Sakura could find herself in. Then, when he couldn't find her, he had almost lost it. Kakashi had just about gone off on some wanna-be sumo wrestler because of a stupid comment about weak women.

He rolled up the note and stuck it in his pack, then took out another note and wrote his reply, then sent it to her. It was quick and easy as he was on the move. Kakashi then felt two chakra signatures stop.

Obviously, this was as far as Sasuke was willing to go. The boy had guts, Kakashi would give him that. He wouldn't be caught dead this close to a village who wants his head served on a platter. Even for someone important.

Kakashi ordered his dogs to stay where they were at and went on the next branch up, to see them better. So far, they just stood there, looking at the bronze and wood gates, which were clearly visible. This would either turn out very bad or very good. But what was he supposed to do if they both went off together?

* * *

Sasuke stopped as soon as he saw the wood and bronze gates with the symbol on the door. This was as far as he dared. Even for Sakura. That and Kakashi following them was putting him on edge. It was starting to grate his nerves that Kakashi wasn't doing anything. Especially, when they were this close to the village.

He looked over at Sakura. Once they had left the motel she had been very quiet. Not like her, but peaceful. Though, now at the gates, he was becoming a little concerned. Not showing it, but feeling it.

She just stared ahead and made a point of avoiding Sasuke's gaze. Not that he could blame her. He was dumping her on the doorstep of the village, after she helped him, after she betrayed the village, after he almost ruined her. He was a sick bastard, but he just couldn't seem to help himself. He was sick selfish bastard.

Sakura stared ahead, feeling Sasuke's intense eyes on her. It was unnerving, but not enough to make her squirm. She was already to the breaking point. Every emotions, every sense, seemed to be tensed in dread. They swirled in her stomach, threatening to make her retch. Her body was weak enough, she was sure that any movement and her knees would give out.

"Sakura, you have to go," Sasuke told her. His gaze didn't leave her face. He saw the sadness, the denial, and the anger. It was enough to make him force himself to keep a blank face and not let it fall in guilt.

"How long, Sasuke?" she returned quietly. She stared at the gates, wondering if he would live after he got his revenge. If he'd ever come home.

"What?" Sasuke didn't understand the question. He expected tears, a fight, or insisting to go with him. What he did not expect was a quiet question, that seemed condemning to him and desperate for her.

"How long will you make me wait this time?" Sakura elaborated. She fought for composure when she wanted to slap him, punch him, kiss him, and kill him all at the same time.

"Sakura--," he started. She finally turned to him.

"No, don't Sakura me. How many nights will I go to bed only to wonder were you are? How many nights will I lay awake thinking about you, hoping your okay? How many mornings will I wake up only to not see you beside me?!" Sakura exclaimed. Her expression was one of fury and sadness mingling together.

Sasuke took her and pulled her to him. In truth, he asked himself those questions many times over when he told Sakura he'd take her home. They were ones he didn't know the answer to and he silently wished he did.

"I don't know," Sasuke quietly told her. "But I'll make it as short as possible." He was whispering in her ear now. And he felt, rather than saw, Sakura close her eyes. But as she buried her face it his chest, he saw one stray tear that betrayed her.

"Sakura, you'd better go," Sasuke suggested, but it was more of an order. Sakura stepped back from him and gave him a small smile. He couldn't bring himself to give her one back. He felt like he was letting his life slip through his fingers.

But smiling back wasn't needed as she turned and prepared to jump. "I love you, Sasuke. You better come back to me." Then she jumped on an other tree on a lower branch and sped to the gates. He watched her go, not taking his eyes off her until she went in.

"I love you, too," he barely whispered on the wind that was directed to her. He saw her pause before she entered and turn around to give him one last look. He saw her pain and tried to steel himself against it. Now was not the time to feel emotional. The gates opened and she walked in.

* * *

Kakashi sat on a tree branch, leaning against the trunk. He looked up at the sky hearing the two teens' conversation. Even though it wasn't his problem, his heart hurt for them both. Sakura, after all these years, still loved him. And Sasuke was leaving again, with a love for her. This didn't seem ironic. It seemed very cruel.

"How long are you going to watch her leave?" Kakashi asked. He didn't take his eye from the sky, but he knew Sasuke could hear him. And that he was present.

Sasuke turned to see his former sensei looking at the sky. He was hoping he could be on his merry way and Kakashi would just shut up, but it didn't look that way. Annoyance flashed through him.

"Why haven't you done anything to me?" Sasuke returned, scowl on his face. He didn't want to answer the question. And he definitely knew Kakashi had heard most of their conversation. Sasuke just hoped that he didn't hear the last part.

"You're avoiding the question," Kakashi observed. Sasuke could picture him reading his pervy books for all the accusation his voice held.

"Hn," Sasuke said shortly. This wasn't really a conversation he'd like to have. He had to kill his brother and get back to Konoha so he could have some assemblance of a half way normal life. Just thinking about his brother sent a shock of anger through him.

"I haven't done anything because I was ordered to stand down if you let her leave you unharmed," Kakashi answered his former pupil's earlier question. That was the most he's said to Sasuke in years, he realized.

"The Hokage knows?" Sasuke questioned. He didn't want Sakura thrown out as a traitor. Damn it, he should have just let her go to Konoha on her own.

"That Sakura betrayed the village by helping you? Yes, she does," Kakashi told him. He watched the barely noticeable emotions cross Sasuke's face. It was amusing for Kakashi, as he knew the Hokage wouldn't have Sakura banished or executed. But obvious to Kakashi, Sasuke didn't know that.

Sasuke's scowl became a full blown glare. It wasn't Kakashi he was glaring at, it was the idea.

"You plan on coming back?" Kakashi's voice broke Sasuke's train of thought. He stared at the silver haired man for a moment, then unconsciously nodded. Kakashi broke out in a grin behind his mask.

"Then riddle me this, Sasuke. After everything you put the village, Naruto, and Sakura through…after you almost killed them…and after you continually denied coming back to the village, what makes you think the elders will let you live?" Kakashi asked. He was testing the teenager. It was similar to the bell test. But Kakashi thought this one was more fun to watch as Sasuke deserved this as Kakashi's own personal form of punishment.

Sasuke just seemed to stare blankly at his old master. No emotion seemed to pass his face. It reminded Kakashi of the stare of the dead. But then again, Sasuke was practically dead inside. Only the hatred for Itachi seemed to keep him alive. He wondered if Sakura or Naruto could change that.

"Because Naruto and Sakura wouldn't let me die, no matter what I've done to them," Sasuke told him, deadpanned. Sasuke then disappeared in a poof of red smoke.

Kakashi watched the smoke blow away with the wind. "You pass, Sasuke." Then disappeared with his own white smoke.

* * *

Naruto was picking up his weapons and putting them in his holster. He moved a box of instant ramen and picked up a shuriken. Naruto was going to wait at the gates for her. He thought about leaving the village, but decided not to.

If Sakura didn't show up at the end of the day tomorrow, Naruto was leaving immediately. They had lost her in Cloud and if she was coming from there them the North gate was where she'd come from.

Tsunade said that the team had got on her trail, but they weren't actually in sight of her. Any number of things could happen. She could get attacked by enemy ninja, or she could collapse because there was a side effect to the life draining jutsu, or she could eat poisoned berries on her way here.

Okay, he needed to stop stressing out about this. Sakura could take a lot of ninja, and there shouldn't be a side effect as Naruto and the others didn't have one, and she wasn't stupid enough to mistake poisoned berries for edible ones.

He was just about to shrug on a jacket when there was a small knock at his door. Naruto looked at it, his brow furrowing. No one knocked when they wanted to see him. Sakura just opened the door and came in, and Kakashi either came through the window or poofed in, and Iruka would always meet him at Ichiraku's.

Naruto went to the door and pulled it open. In the doorway stood Hinata, looking down and blushing at the floor. In her hands was his favorite jacket, looking as good as new.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto greeted, smile in place.

"H-Hello, Naruto. I sewed your jacket. It should be fine now," Hinata held out the jacket, still looking at the ground. Naruto took it.

"Wow, Hinata, this is awesome. You'd never tell it was in a fight. Thanks," he exclaimed. On impulse Naruto pulled Hinata into a hug. He felt her stiffen, but then she relaxed in his arms.

"It's alright, Naruto. I didn't mind," Hinata told him against his chest.

He pulled back and slipped the jacket on. He noticed on the left end of his sleeve were the letters 'NU' sewed on in orange. Naruto smiled at it. They hadn't been there before. Now this really was his favorite jacket.

"You're great, Hinata," he grinned. "I'm just leaving so you caught me at a good time."

That caused Hinata to look up at him. His grin slowly faded as he looked at her. Hinata's mouth parted and she wet her lips. Naruto seemed to follow the movement.

"Where are you going?" Hinata casually asked, but her blush crepe down her neck.

"The Northern gate. I'm waiting for Sakura," Naruto told her, he held her gaze. Hinata swallowed at lump.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Hinata asked. She knew she shouldn't. Hinata was late enough already to bring Naruto his jacket. She'd be really late if she went with Naruto.

"No, it's alright. I'll bet your dad's totally worried right now, as it is," Naruto declined. He didn't want her to get in trouble because of him. It was almost eleven at night. Hinata flushed so red Naruto was waiting for her to pass out.

"You're right," she bowed a little and speed walked out the doorway and down the street. Naruto just looked after her, his head slightly tilted. Why did she go so fast? He was just about to walk her home.

"Was it something I said?" he asked himself. Naruto just locked his door and went to the Northern gates.

* * *

Sakura just walked in the gates and guards seemed to swarm around her. Everyone had the same face to her. She had just left the love of her life. She left him to fight his brother to the death. It was like lining up sheep to the slaughter.

When she jumped from tree to tree she felt just a little bit of her heart turn into a black void. That was how it always felt when she wasn't with Sasuke. Sure, she would laugh at Naruto and get mad at Sai but there was always an empty spot in the forefront of her heart. A spot only Sasuke could make whole.

Now, it seemed to come back. And she fought her tears, though they threatened to over take her even now.

"Lady Hokage would like to see you," a voice said. Sakura didn't look at his face, she knew it'd just be blurry.

"Alright," she heard herself say. Without thought Sakura's feet took her down the road were the Hokage tower was. She was dazed, she knew, but didn't care.

"SAKURA!"

The voice pulled her out of her misery and she turned to see Naruto running to her. Her relief knew no bounds as Naruto embraced her. She hugged him back, so glad that her anchor had been found.

"Naruto, I missed you," she said, smiling up at him as he let her go. Naruto punched her lightly.

"I missed you, too," he replied. "How are you?"

"Fine as possible," Sakura said, her smile growing. Naruto may be her anchor but she didn't want to burden him all the time. And now was a time when she didn't want her best friend to know what she just did.

Naruto's eyes darkened at her reply to his question but he kept up his smile. "Come on, let's go see Granny Tsunade. She missed you, too," Naruto said. He pulled her toward the tower and once there, up the steps and to the door.

Both knocked on the door at the same time. Naruto's fist higher than her own. "Enter," was the muffled reply.

Sakura opened the door and her and Naruto first saw Kakashi-sensei. He had on his Anbu uniform and was obviously coming back from a mission.

"Yo," was all he said.

"Dismissed," Tsunade said behind him.

"See ya," was the last thing he said before he vanished. Naruto and Sakura exchanged glances, then turned to Tsunade. She smiled at them and gestured them in.

"Naruto, wait outside, please," Tsunade ordered.

"What!?" he fumed. Tsunade glared at him.

"Do it," she demanded. Naruto complied but was muttering under his breath while he did. Something about old lady know-it-all's. The door then shut.

"How are you, Sakura?" Tsunade asked her. Sakura smiled.

"Fine," she managed. Sakura trembled a little while Tsunade looked her over.

"What is that thing on your neck?" she inspected. From her desk, Tsunade tilted her head to the side.

"It disables me from using my chakra, but I can't get it off," Sakura explained to her. Tsunade gave it a critically eye, then let it go.

"Where did you go after the base blew up?" Tsunade asked. The Hokage's gaze was unwavering. Sakura shifted from foot to foot.

"I had to recover," Sakura vaguely stated. There was no way to stay truthful and Sakura just didn't want Tsunade to know that she betrayed the village.

"Recover for yourself or someone else?" Tsunade asked suspiciously. Sakura swallowed past the lump that formed in her throat.

"I don't understand what you're saying," Sakura told her after she was able to speak again. Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Don't lie to me," she demanded. With that statement she was thrown a piece of paper. Sakura turned it over, and gasped. It was picture of her and Sasuke. They were on the tree facing each other, their profiles were to camera, and the Northern gate was in the background.

In the picture, Sakura looked close to tears and Sasuke's face was blank with the exception of his eyes. They were intense but a painful look was cut through them. She had her hands on the front of his shirt. This was right before he hugged her. Sakura exhaled. She couldn't lie now.

"I betrayed Konoha by helping Sasuke heal his wounds," she stated quietly. Sakura put the picture at her side and looked her master in the eye. Tsunade entwined her fingers together in front of her face.

"I know. But what I want to know is why he's alive when you were ordered to kill him on sight and you had the chance on your last mission," Tsunade's tone was hard. It caused Sakura to flinch.

_Why?_ She wanted to know why? Sakura would have thought the answer was an obvious one.

"What would you have done?" Sakura asked, her tone hard too. "What would you have done if it was Dan?"

"Dan wasn't wanted as a rouge ninja," Tsunade defended on her feet. "Dan wasn't a rouge ninja, but Sasuke is. With a price on his head by the elders' decree."

"Could you kill someone you love?" Sakura asked, close to tears. They were brimming in her eyes. "I tried to kill Sasuke! But I couldn't! I tried, damn it, but I don't want him dead!" she yelled.

It pushed her over the edge. Tears came down her face and dropped on the floor like it was raining. She brought her hand up to her face, trying to hide her tears. Sakura left Sasuke to die, to face his brother, and she didn't know if he would even be able to come back. Try as she might, Sakura couldn't stop the tears and her shaking.

Tsunade watched her student fall off the edge and went to her. Tsunade put her arms around Sakura and let her cry. It wasn't something she enjoyed, but Tsunade didn't mind. She had been just as upset when Dan was killed. So, Tsunade let her weep until Sakura had no more tears to cry.

* * *

**A/N: sad? Yeah, kinda. Makes me glad I don't have to go through it. But I'll continue this story but I must warn you, it'll be a little time skip on the next chapter. And you'll learn more about the Akatsuki's plan later on. REVIEW, and tell me what you think.**


	13. You came back to me

**A/N: Reviewers are totally loved, and get cookies. and here we have the next installment in the love story of youth! No, not really. I just had a Gai-sensei moment. Sorry. Now back to your awaited fan fiction.**

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sama, you are the genius, not me.**

* * *

**_Previously,_**

_"How long, Sasuke?"_

_-- _

**_--_**

_Sasuke watched her leave. "I love you, too."_

**_--_**

**_--_**

_"SAKURA! I missed you."_

**_--_**

**_--_**

_"What makes you think the elders will let you live?"_

**_--_**

**_--_**

_"Because Naruto and Sakura wouldn't let me die, no matter what I've done to them."_

* * *

**--Four months later--**

The night was quiet. No unnatural sound was made. The crickets chirped their song and the August wind blew lightly acrossed team seven's old training grounds. Three thick wooden poles stood in front of the memorial stone. The middle pole had an eighteen year old girl sitting on its top.

She breathed the night air, knowing that wind was Naruto's element. It blew again and rustled the pale pink hair the girl possessed. Her face was turned up to the sky, watching the stars twinkle bright. The full moon was enough to light up the place she loved to be. It was just like that night, six years ago.

_"Sasuke, take one more step and I'll scream," a twelve year old Sakura Haruno threatened. She took a step toward the boy with his back facing her. Then he was suddenly gone. Sakura stopped but then felt a presence behind her._

_The wind blew, but most of it was blocked by Sasuke. She was in shock, not even noticing the tears that streamed down her cheeks. _

_"Sakura…," she felt his breath on her neck. She waited for hurtful words or an attack from behind. But it didn't come._

_"…thank you," he told her. She relaxed and let her guard down. Which she later realized was a stupid mistake. A painful_ _pressure was issued to her neck. She fought it, but lost. Sasuke, she thought. Nothing but darkness covered her now._

The girl on the pole closed her eyes, blocking off the memory. Blocking off every memory. Her head tilted down to her lap. She slowly breathed in and out. Sakura wasn't that twelve year old girl anymore. She was an eighteen year old woman with amazing strength. But despite the age, she was still waiting for that same boy to come back. Just like her twelve year old self had waited for his acceptance, even his care.

Sasuke had been gone for four months, and there was no word if Itachi was dead or not. But at least she knew she wasn't the only one waiting for him. Naruto may be with Hinata but Hinata wasn't a substitute for the brother he once had. And Kakashi may act indifferent and read perverted books but Sakura knew he missed the person who had become his son.

And Sakura…she missed the person she loved. The Konoha heartthrob, the guy with the bad attitude, the last Uchiha. It didn't matter what you called him, she missed him. She felt incomplete. It was something only he could do to her.

The ones who hurt you the most are the people closest to you. Sakura never realized how true that was until she was twelve. She knew it then, she knew it four months ago, and she knew it now, but that didn't stop her. She couldn't stop herself if she wanted to.

"You're going to end up like Kakashi-sensei if you keep on doing this," a male voice warned from behind her. Sakura's lips turned up.

"Maybe you just worry to much," Sakura suggested, smiling at her lap. The familiar chakra signature came up beside her. More like beside the wooden pole.

"If you start reading Make-out Paradise, I'll have to put my foot down," he said, grinning like the idiot he was.

"Naruto, you and I both know that won't do much good," Sakura smiled down at the blond. He was her best friend and this was the third time he caught her here this week.

"Hey, just because when I put my foot down earth doesn't break in every direction doesn't mean anything," Naruto countered, looking up at the girl sitting on the pole. She smiled at him and he returned it.

"This was where you were tied up. Remember?" Sakura asked, thinking back to their genin days.

"Come on, Sakura, how could I forget? You guys left me there until I got myself out," Naruto complained in a pout. Sakura laughed lightly.

"I guess we did. But you escaped just fine," Sakura told him. She went back to looking at the sky. The stars seemed to take on the shape of the symbol on her headband.

"Yeah, at two in the morning," he mumbled. The response was her light laughter.

"You slept in though, we didn't have a mission the next day," Sakura remembered.

"So, you guys still left me there," Naruto complained. Sakura smiled at him, her heart warming at his antics.

"But you forgive us, right?" Sakura jokingly asked. She knew he forgave them the day after.

"Of course. I don't hold a lot of grudges," Naruto said. He turned to Sakura and studied her. She had the faintest dark circles under her eyes and she had been off on her aim lately. Naruto knew what the problem was: teme.

Once Sakura came back, she and Naruto had a very long talk about what happened after the base was blown up. She told him that she had helped Sasuke and he didn't blame her. He would've done the same thing. And she told him that he planned to come back. Naruto was pissed about that, but relieved at the same time.

He wanted the chance to break every bone in his best friend's body and drag him back here. Naruto also didn't like waiting for him to just show up one day. He wasn't the sitting-around type of guy. But then again, neither was Sasuke.

"How long has it been?" Naruto asked. He sensed, rather than saw, Sakura freeze.

"Not tonight, Naruto," she pleaded. Said man turned to look at his pink haired best friend.

"Then when? Sakura, it's not healthy to do this to yourself," Naruto declared.

"I'm not doing anything to myself. I'm acting like I always have," she insisted. She set her face in a stubborn expression.

"Maybe around other people. I know you, Sakura. And I know…that you're almost dead inside," Naruto told her. Something squeezed at her heart, it made it painful to breath. It was like a physical pain.

"Almost, Naruto, almost. I know you're worried and I'm sorry, but it just hurts," Sakura lamely tried to convince him.

"Time heals all wounds," Naruto said, his hand on the wood as if he could feel a heartbeat.

"Since when do you know all these fancy phrases?" Sakura asked suspicious. Naruto grinned at her.

"Kakashi's book of excuses for why he's late. He has a million of them in this book that just lays around his house," Naruto said, smile on his face.

"So he has more than 'I got lost on the road of life'?" Sakura giggled, happy for the change of subject.

"Yeah. One even says 'I got distracted by something shiny," Naruto told her, trying to hold in his laughter. Sakura didn't and started laughing out loud. It was a rare moment and Naruto felt his heart lift a little. He had missed her laughing so much.

"Why doesn't he use them then, if he has so many?" Sakura asked, trying to stifle her giggles.

"My guess is that he's lazy," Naruto offered. Sakura just sighed, content with sitting with Naruto in silence. She felt his gaze on her, after a while. She just dreaded the subject that she knew he was going to take up.

"It's been four months, maybe we should look for him," Naruto suggested. Sakura felt a pull at her stomach.

"Then where should we start?" Sakura challenged. She had no idea where to start or even an idea of where Sasuke could be. He just left and hadn't been heard from since.

"Well, you could start where the Akatsuki are, but that just might get you killed," the voice of their sensei told them from behind. Both former students looked at their former sensei. He had no orange book and his uniform was anbu.

"Thanks for the support Kakashi-sensei, I feel so much better," Naruto sarcastically told him, folding his arms acrossed his chest. Sakura was mildly surprised he was here, at this hour of night.

"I'm telling so you don't die. I mean, Hinata's going to want you to pop the question soon," Kakashi teased. Naruto's face flamed at the mention.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Naruto denied, looking away from Kakashi and Sakura.

"I saw you in the jewelry shop," Kakashi pressed, grinning under his mask. Sakura didn't suppress her laughter.

"Awe, Naruto. I had no idea," she teased, glad to take her mind off Sasuke.

"Shut it, Sakura," Naruto told her half heartedly. Kakashi walked closer to two-thirds of his old team.

"Why are you here so late?" he asked, looking from Sakura to Naruto. Here it comes, Sakura thought.

"I'm worried about Sakura," Naruto instantly said, glad for the subject change. Kakashi took to observing Sakura with his one visible eye. He moved right in front of where she sat on the pole and handed her an envelope.

Surprised, Sakura took it. It wasn't thick and it felt like it held a few good pieces of paper. Sakura opened it and looked inside. It wasn't paper at all. They were pictures of her and Sasuke. One had them hugging, another was when Sakura cleaned his wounds before they were at the village's gate, and the last one was a picture of them kissing under an oak tree that had been in a clearing where they rested. The picture Tsunade gave her four months ago was buried in her closet.

Her eyes shot back to Kakashi. They held a question, what the hell are these? Kakashi sighed.

"Tsunade's been trying to keep them out of prying eyes. So she gave them to me to give to you as she was busy. I don't know what you want done with them, but don't let anyone see them," Kakashi warned. Sakura's breathing had slowed and she was trying to keep it from speeding up, but her heart was beating so fast that it was hard to hear.

She just nodded, unable to do anything else. Sakura slipped them into her jacket.

"Wait, what are they? I want to see," Naruto requested. Kakashi looked at him and smiled.

"You'll see them in due time," Kakashi fabricated. Sakura would probably not let anyone see the pictures, maybe Naruto would see them in private. But not out here in the open.

"See what?" the voice came from the edge of the woods. They looked around to see a black figure walking toward them. He stepped out into the moonlight and had the face of Sasuke Uchiha. They were stunned to silence. Well, Sakura was anyway, as Kakashi had his mysterious smile going on under his mask and Naruto couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Teme, you're back!" Naruto exclaimed. He took a few steps to Sasuke out of habit. Sasuke kept walking but stopped a few feet away, just out of arms' reach.

"Nice observation, dobe," Sasuke dryly commented. His eyes went to Kakashi who told him 'Welcome back'. Then with his stomach churning his gaze locked with Sakura's. She looked like not day had gone by that he left again. He watched her swallow, then a slow smile spread on her face, brightening his night.

She jumped down from the pole that he remembered Naruto got tied to and rushed to him. She threw her arms around him and crushed him in her embrace. He put his arms around her and heard her whisper, "You came back to me." A ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

"I guess I did," he whispered to her. She smiled, her face in his chest.

"You have bruised ribs," she told him, loosing her hold on him.

"You're not helping them, you know," Sasuke told her. She sighed, one thing she didn't miss was his arrogance.

"I hate to break up the love fest…," Naruto started. Sasuke and Sakura let go of each other finally realizing that there were other people with them. Sasuke smirked at Naruto.

"I'm not touching you, dobe," he mocked the blonde. A vein popped out of Naruto's forehead.

"I never said I wanted you to, you stupid teme," Naruto fumed. Sakura smiled at Naruto's anger, which had already dissipated. Kakashi took out his Make-out Paradise book and flipped to the middle of the book.

"How long have you been back?" Kakashi asked from behind his book. Sasuke regarded him. Nothing had changed about his former sensei. Still a pervert to the end.

"Not long," Sasuke answered vaguely. Truth was, he was listening to the end of their conversation. He had just arrived in the woods when Kakashi handed Sakura a white envelope.

"How'd you get past the guards?" Kakashi persisted, then chuckled at his book. Sasuke just raised his eyebrows a little. Did he really need to ask how Sasuke got past the guards?

"Well, what the hell took you so long to get here, teme?" Naruto demanded out of his friend. Sasuke gave him a little scowl.

"Why not say something of intelligence, dobe?" Sasuke sarcastically asked. Naruto took a threatening step forward, hoping for a fight. After all, he didn't get to break every bone in Sasuke's body yet.

"Can you children not fight for two seconds?" Sakura piped up. Naruto just snorted.

"Fine, but when this over, I'm totally kicking his ass," Naruto declared. Sasuke's smirk came alive again.

"Like you could," he taunted. Naruto fumed again.

"Naruto, chill out. Sasuke, don't encourage him," Sakura mediated. Sasuke gave her a reproachful look for ordering him around. Naruto just folded his arms acrossed his chest, but listening to Sakura all the same.

"Isn't this a nice reunion?" the voice of the Hokage floated from the other side of the training grounds. All turned to look at her, but she had an eye for Sasuke. "You finally made it back?" Sasuke nodded. Was that a trick question?

"Well, looks like we have a trial on our hands," she told the old team seven, her glossed lips not forming a smile, mocking or otherwise.

* * *

Deidara took to the halls of the Konoha hospital disguised as a wanderer. The transformation jutsu that he had set had his hair shorter and black, but his bangs still covered his eye on the left side. He had his eyes change to a very dark brown color, one he was glad wasn't his natural color. His wardrobe consisted of a deep red hatori and black pants that swordsman wore. To cover his hands, black wraps wound around his hands and up his arms.

He had came into Konoha as a wanderer, getting permission from the Hokage to stay as long as he felt like it. That was three months ago. Since then, he was slowly but surely taking out the entire medical staff. Three nurses had been in 'accidents' and died from them while he made a hit on one of the top medic staff. He recalled the leaders plan.

_"You'll go to Konoha as a wanderer and slowly destroy the medics in the hospital," the leader told him. Deidara bowed lower, focusing on his blond hair._

_"Why the medics? Wouldn't it be more convenient to take out the Hokage and claim it as an accident, yeah? Then Konoha would be in chaos until they found a new leader, yeah," Deidara questioned. _

_"Because the medics are the core of Konoha. You take most of them out and the injured who wouldn't be able to fight anymore are dead. Once enough of are taken out, we launch the silent attack. Then, by the time Konoha realizes that, not only are ninja dying off, but there aren't enough medics to heal all the injured. Thus, a good number dies, making it easier for us," the leader graciously explained. _

_"And you thought of this?" Deidara knew he was stepping over an invisible line but it didn't sound like the leader would just up and think of one of the best plans to get the fox brat._

_Pein narrowed his eyes. He wasn't stupid enough to tell Deidara that it was Itachi's plan. That would lead to anger and denial. And Deidara could pull out of the mission and leave the Akatsuki._

_"You question my intelligence?" Pein asked, the sarcasm just barely seeping through his tone._

_"No, never, yeah," Deidara automatically responded. He had no wish to anger the leader._

_"Good, you'll report monthly. This will be a slow process as to not alarm Konoha and have them investigate. Once enough medics are out of the picture, we'll destroy the village and take the Kyuubi," Pein further detailed._

_"Yes," Deidara said._

_"Good, dismissed. Your mission starts now," Pein commanded. Deidara walked out of the room._

Walking down the white clean hallway, Deidara shook off the memory. It wasn't his place to question the leader, but he knew that Pein hadn't been the one to come up with this plan. But as anger surged through him, he clamped it down.

This was Itachi's plan. His gut just said so, never mind the leader taking credit. But Itachi didn't matter now, he was dead. Killed by an eighteen year old brat. His little brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Deidara would have liked to take out Itachi but his little brother more reason to do it.

He came to a stop in front a door with the name 'Choko Basu' printed on it. He politely knocked, knowing that even though it was late at night she was inside her office. Light footsteps sounded on the other side of the door and soon the knob was turned.

The door opened to reveal a black haired lady with dark blue eyes. She looked him up and down, her gaze surprised if not critical. She obviously didn't like to bothered at this hour in the night. But that hardly mattered now.

"Yes?" she asked, her tone husky as though she hadn't used it in a while. He flashed her a reassuring smile.

"Can you help me? I seemed to have hurt my arm," he explained. She smiled a little, letting her guard down. _Idiot_ _woman, yeah._

"Oh, let me see it," she looked down to see his black arm wrapping falling off, revealing the mouth on his hand. Her blue eyes widened and she inhaled sharply, to scream, no doubt.

Before she got that far the unwrapped hand covered her mouth, pumping clay to her lungs, making her lose oxygen. She lost consciousness and her eyes drifted shut, falling to floor but he caught her. Deidara retracted his hand to see clay flow from her mouth, dripping like blood on the floor. He put his hand to floor and the mouth re-ingested the spilt clay, leaving no trance that it was there.

He pulled a kunai from inside his robes and carved a symbol on the dead girls forehead. Then, made the sign of the tiger and she disappeared in a poof. Deidara looked around the room, he checked the floor, the door, and the walls to make sure he didn't leave a trance of himself having been here.

Once done, he shut the door and walked down the way he came. Took the stairs quietly and felt daring enough to walk out the door. He used the side door, using the front door was just like writing it on paper that he was up to no good, and slipped into the night. Normally, he would have just transported himself out but he just didn't feel like it tonight.

Deidara got on the road and walked for a while before he turned the corner and came face-to-face with himself as a wanderer. That wanderer then disappeared in smoke while Deidara walked through it. The shadow clone was his alibi, while he would go kill the medics his shadow clone wandered Konoha, making sure someone saw it.

Deidara turned again, going to his inn were he had been staying but was stopped in his tracks. Ahead was the fifth Hokage, but that's not what had him worried. It was the figure behind her, following her. Sasuke Uchiha was back in the village. For how long? He didn't know, but any amount of time was a problem.

He fell into the shadows, not wanted to be seen. Deidara had a feeling this was going to go to all hell.

* * *

**A/N: and you have the Akatsuki plan. Devious, isn't it? And it just might work. So the question stands: when will it be Sakura's turn? Now, it's time for your review to pop up in my inbox.**


	14. The Hokage's Verdict

**A/N: The reviews are loved so much I'd hug you all but sadly this is the internet and I can't do that. But rest assured if I could I would. Yeah. And, just so everyone knows the fight between Deidara and Sasuke didn't happen. Both of them know each other, but they never fought. Just so we're clear on that. Other than that I really don't have much to say.**

**Disclaimer: I'm on a ****_FANFICTION_ site. Read in between the lines.**

* * *

**_Last time,_**

_--_

_--_

_"You came back to me."_

_--_

_--_

_"I guess I did."_

_--_

_--_

_"Well, looks like we have a trial on our hands."_

_--_

_--_

_Deidara had a feeling this was going to go to all hell._

* * *

It had been two days since Sasuke's return. He was taken to the Konoha prison outside the village. As per orders the members of team seven weren't permitted to go visit him. The council thought that they would be brainwashed into Sasuke's ideas.

But today it didn't matter, as today was the trial. It doesn't take much for a trial when you mention 'returned' and 'Sasuke Uchiha' in the same sentence. Some council members had been out of the country but the urgent matter had them running for Konoha. All members were to be present, as were the Anbu captains, the high ranked Jonin, and the two top Chunin.

"What do you think's going to happen?" Sakura asked, showing some of her nerves. Naruto smiled at her. They were some of the high ranked Jonin that had to go. Therefore they were walking on the main road, the background full of buzz and whispers.

"Come on, Sakura. He'll totally be let off," Naruto stated, smiling despite the chances that weren't good.

"I hope so," she said, fidgeting with her barely-there finger nails. She never fidgeted, it was proof of how nervous she really was. Naruto put a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

"Believe it, Sakura," Naruto grinned. That smile was contagious and Sakura caught herself smiling with him.

"Thank you, Naruto," she told him and gave him a hug, that he returned. They stood in front of the Hokage Tower looking up at it. The sun was on the western side of the sky now and Naruto and Sakura were on the east, getting the dark side of the Tower. It looked foreboding, dark, and slightly creepy. Naruto, Sakura realized, looked slightly green.

"That tower wasn't so creepy this morning, was it?" he asked, looking like he needed a barf bag. Sakura could sympathize.

"Nuh-uh," Sakura mumbled before she swallowed past the emotional lump forming in her throat. This was where Sasuke would get tried for his crimes. This was where Sasuke would die a caged man or live like a freed bird. This was where Sakura and Naruto were dreading to go and hoping to walk out in one emotional piece.

Sakura and Naruto walked into the building. It had the usual ninja rustling about and the same busy air that it always did, but Sakura felt a sense of dread drop into her stomach. The need to run far away and never come back over came her. She trembled, she knew it, but she walked with Naruto, his face was one of determination. God, she wished she had that strength.

They found stairs that led down into a basement and walked down one at a time. The silence echoed off the walls that were lit by electric lamps. There was no railing and no warmth. Was this were every criminal was tried? If it was, Sakura was glad she wasn't present for those.

At the bottom landing of concrete, the light danced off the walls and shadows, a spooky alliance with the silence that had been crushing them for the past five minutes. They faced a short hallway and at the end saw a regular door. Sakura sighed in relief, she didn't know what she expected but was glad that the door had no chains or blood.

Naruto was first to the door, his hand lingered on the knob until he heard Sakura come up behind him. He breathed in, to steady himself, and turned to knob into a very court looking room. On two sides were three rows of benches. In the middle was a chair and nothing else. At the head of the room, opposite the door was the Hokage. Behind her was the council. Every other person that was to be present already sat in seats.

Neji and Shikamaru were there along with other Anbu that the duo didn't know. Hinata, Choji, Shino, Ino, Kakashi, Gai, Kuranai, and Anko were seated randomly throughout the rows. Iruka was sitting next to Kakashi in the middle of the second bench on the right side. Naruto wandered over there and sat on Iruka's other side diagonally in front of Hinata and Sakura went to sit by Naruto.

The room was silent as Sakura watched her master from were she sat at the head table. Tsunade just looked ahead at the door. Her amber eyes alight, ready to do a battle of words with Sasuke Uchiha. She sat upright, looking ready for anything.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the room, muffled by the closed door. Every eye was on the door when it opened. Four Anbu came in, with them was Sasuke in middle. The slight scowl on his face said that he was getting bored of moving every which way like a Yo-Yo. The four Anbu sat him in the chair and strapped his wrists and ankles. Sasuke looked up at the Hokage, no fear was in his eyes. But Sakura saw the determination to live underneath the frozen layers.

"Sasuke Uchiha, how do you plead to the charge of betraying Konoha?" Tsunade's voice boomed through the room. Sasuke adopted a bored expression.

"Guilty," he shortly replied. Did they really have to asked that question? Sakura saw him leave, for God's sake. He stole a glance at his teammates. Sakura was looking at Tsunade, biting her lip, but otherwise no real expression came on her face. Naruto had the air of impatience.

"Did you come here to die, Uchiha?" Tsunade asked coldly. Sasuke looked up at her. The glare he was receiving from the Hokage did nothing to calm the nerves that he possessed but didn't show.

"No," he responded. His fingers curled into a fist, was all this really necessary?

"Kill him anyway," a council member voiced. That statement had the council talking all at once. Tsunade let this go on for a few seconds.

"Silence," she demanded. The room was quiet once again. "Other than betray this village, what other crimes have you committed?"

"Assault on Konoha ninja," Sasuke admitted. After that he wasn't going to admit anything. Because there was no other crime to be tried for. Tsunade coldly regarded him.

"You didn't kill them?" Tsunade asked, eyebrows slightly raised. Sakura's hands gripped the chair so hard there were indentations in the metal. Her lip was almost drawing blood.

"No, I didn't," Sasuke said. He never meant to kill when he fought Naruto and Sakura and the other two he didn't recognize. He didn't even want to talk to them, much less exchange blows.

"He lies," another member said. This started the talking all at once again. Tsunade was flushing in anger. Her hands barely restraining to punch something.

"Shut up!" Tsunade yelled. The last word echoed. She looked down at the Uchiha once again. She drew a breath. "The punishment for betrayal of the village is death."

"WH--ow," Naruto was cut off due to Sakura's heel slamming on his instep. Naruto bent over to grab his foot while Sakura never batted an eyelash. She stared at Tsunade, who looked over.

"Too much sugar in one day," Sakura excused. Tsunade bought it and turned her attention back to the traitor. Sakura gave Naruto a glare telling him that if he didn't shut up then a tree was going in his ass.

"I know," Sasuke told her calmly. Was she really going to kill him? Sasuke was beginning to have his doubts, now. At the wrong time. Kakashi's words echoed in his mind.

_What makes you think the elders will let you live?_

"Good. However, as you are here I'm guessing you're the last Uchiha in the world?" Tsunade subtly asked if he killed Itachi. Sasuke nodded.

"Yes."

"Again the punishment is death, but Konoha needs you if you're loyal. I'm pardoning you. But there will be probation. For six months there will be no missions and you will have a chaperone. After that is up I'll give you a test on your loyalty, as my own personal form of punishment. If you pass that test, then I'll have you take the Chunin exams," Tsunade ordered. Sakura sat there too stunned to move, Naruto with his jaw to floor, and Sasuke let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

Tsunade smiled a little. "This trial is closed," she said. Once that was uttered people got up, stretching and walking toward the exit. An Anbu untied Sasuke and he stood looking at his old teammates. Naruto smiling with Sakura and Kakashi took out his orange book, but Sasuke knew he had a grin on him, too.

Tsunade sat in place not moving. Sakura caught her eye and Tsunade motion for her to come over to her. Sakura started but Naruto held her wrist.

"Come on, Sakura," Naruto said angling towards Sasuke. Sakura looked back at Naruto and got out of his hold.

"Wait for me outside," Sakura softly commanded. She then walked up to Tsunade. Naruto furrowed his brow but walked to the door with Sasuke.

"Come on, teme. We'll wait for Sakura out here," he said. Sasuke closed the door behind and followed Naruto up the stairs.

"What's she doing?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shrugged. He had no idea what she was doing. He only hoped that is wasn't anything bad.

Inside the court room Sakura looked up at Tsunade. Her master got up and walked around the table and down the five stairs that had her elevated. Sakura walked into the middle of the room and met her half way.

"Thank you so much--," Sakura started but a hand silenced her. Tsunade smiled gently at her student.

"If team seven want Sasuke Uchiha alive, then I guess that's enough for me to keep him that way," Tsunade conceded. Sakura's face brightened. "But that's not why you're here."

"So why am I here?" Sakura asked, not following her master's train of thought.

"I want you to have Sasuke move in with you for the next six months," Tsunade said, breaking the ice. Sakura felt her jaw slacken. She recovered.

"Why not move in with Naruto?" Sakura asked. They were both boys after all. Like brothers.

"They'll kill each other," Tsunade simply stated. And with brothers comes sibling rivalry and too much testosterone. They would kill each other, or at least blow up Naruto's apartment and end up living with her anyways.

"Alright," Sakura agreed. Butterflies flew into her stomach at the though of Sasuke, shirtless sleeping on her couch. Sakura mentally shook the image.

"And one other matter, Sakura. I know that Naruto is thinking about marrying Hinata. When he does propose I want to throw him an engagement party," Tsunade said. Sakura giggled a little.

"You really do care," Sakura commented.

Tsunade ignored it. "When he does that, at the party I'll announce my successor and the engagement party will be a congratulations party, too," Tsunade finished. Sakura was stunned speechless. After all this time, she's finally giving Naruto his dream? He'll be so thrilled. A smile made its way on her face.

"Wait, why do this now? You could have done it months ago," Sakura asked. Yeah, Tsunade could have given up the Hokage title when Naruto got back from Orochimaru's base.

"I thought that Naruto would have liked to have his whole team with him when he became Hokage," Tsunade told her. Sakura's smile grew.

"You were waiting for Sasuke to come back?" Sakura asked, almost jumping up and down.

"Yes. Well, now I'm waiting on Naruto to get balls and propose," Tsunade said. Sakura was almost crying with all the happy news.

"You really do like Naruto," she said through the threatening tears. Tsunade smiled down at her apprentice.

"Dismissed, Sakura." Said girl bowed and ran out the door. She took the stairs two at time and was on the ground level before she knew it. There, she saw Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi standing there. Naruto was annoying Sasuke already and Kakashi was pretending to read his book.

Upon seeing her, Naruto and Sasuke turned their heads to see pink. A whole lot of pink. Sakura had them trapped it a three man hug. Kakashi looked up from his book.

"Sakura…I c-can't…breath," Naruto complained.

"Bruised ribs," Sasuke said. Kakashi put his book away and smile behind his mask at the three in front of him.

"So, it was good news, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, already knowing the answer. She let go of the other two and faced him.

"Yes, it was," Sakura said breathlessly. Kakashi nodded and disappeared in white smoke. Sakura turned back to her boys.

"Come on, let's go get ramen," Sakura suggested. She grabbed Sasuke's and Naruto's hands and all but dragged them down the road.

"But Sakura, it's dark and I gotta do stuff. Besides, you said yesterday that if I eat any more ramen I was going to spontaneously combust," Naruto said trying to not fall on the dirt.

"Naruto, practice proposing to Hinata later and one more bowl won't kill you," Sakura said over her right shoulder. Sasuke raised an eyebrow to Naruto, who was more red than a tomato. Sasuke smirked and let himself be dragged by Sakura, who was in too good a mood to argue with.

Once at the ramen stand, Sakura sat them both down and ordered chicken ramen. Naruto had miso and Sasuke decided on beef. The shop own didn't mind Sasuke at all, in fact it was like old times when they would go for ramen with Kakashi.

"Hey, Sakura what did that old granny want with you earlier?" Naruto asked, mouth full of ramen. Sakura swallowed her ramen before she answered.

"She wanted to tell me where Sasuke was staying as he's has to be chaperoned for the next six months," Sakura told him, watching the way he shoveled ramen in mouth.

"Oh, I thought he was staying in house like he always did," Naruto said swallowing. "Where's he staying?"

"With me," Sakura hesitantly said. Naruto choked on his ramen. Sasuke looked over at her.

"And when were you going to tell me?" Sasuke darkly demanded. Sakura smiled a little.

"When we were finished eating," Sakura told him, pointing at Naruto, who was still choking. Sasuke looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. He guessed that would have been a better time but it was amusing watching Naruto try to swallow.

"What?!" he yelled once the ramen was in his stomach. Sakura gave him a side glance.

"She said that you two lived together you'd kill each other and if you did that then you'd end up staying at my place anyway, so she said Sasuke was staying with me," Sakura detailed. Naruto seemed to mule this over.

"I don't trust the teme and you alone," he finally said. Sasuke hit him over the head with his chop sticks.

"Ow," he held his head where a red mark was forming. Sakura glared at him a little.

"What do you mean you don't trust us together?" Sakura asked, on the verge of putting him on the other side of the village.

"Well, his scent is always on you and I don't want to know what you guys did but you better keep your hands off her, teme," Naruto directed the last part of his sentence to Sasuke, who glared at him. Sakura had a pink dusting on her cheeks.

"Naruto, you have no room to talk as you and Hinata are practically living together," Sakura defended. Naruto seemed to blush at this and Sakura smirked a little.

"It's late. We should go," Sakura said continuing to smirk. Sasuke stood and Sakura followed the suit. "Night, Naruto."

"Yeah," Naruto said, eating more ramen. Sakura and Sasuke walked down the street away from the ramen stand.

"I'm glad you're back Sasuke," Sakura told him. Sasuke smirked and put his hands in his pockets.

"I can tell," Sasuke said. "What else did the Hokage say?"

Sakura looked up at him in surprise. "How do you know she said anything else?"

Sasuke looked at her. He could keep time. It didn't take almost ten minutes to tell someone that who was going to be living with them. Sasuke had hoped this would happen, as if he lived with the dobe they probably would have killed her.

"It doesn't take ten minutes to tell someone about living arrangements," Sasuke pointed out. Sakura sighed, there was that logic again. And arrogance to boot.

"She told me that when Naruto and Hinata get engaged she throwing them an engagement party," Sakura said. "And at the party, she'll name Naruto as next Hokage."

"So, the dobe'll finally do it," Sasuke said, more to himself. Sakura looked away from his angelic features and to the house they were beside and walked up to it. Sasuke followed. She unlocked the door and went inside.

The living room was big, a full size couch, a recliner chair, TV set and stand, lamps on the walls and a ceiling fan. Sakura laid her keys on the stand beside the couch and heard Sasuke close the door. Sakura turned to Sasuke, her stomach doing flips. Sasuke was observing every part of this room.

"My room and the spare room that's your's is upstairs along with the bathroom. The kitchen is on the left, the dining room is off of the kitchen. The laundry room is through the door at the other end of the living room and a bathroom is off of that room, too," Sakura said, giving directions. Sasuke nodded.

"Tomorrow we'll go to your place and get what you need," Sakura said. Sasuke nodded again. Sakura smiled and grabbed Sasuke's pulling him to the couch.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, his eyes seemed to be hotter, darker. Sakura swallowed, thinking of good intentions.

"Your ribs are still bruised," Sakura told him. She opened the hatori and saw purple and black marks in the middle of his torso extending down right before his pants line. Sasuke said nothing as she took off the shirt and place her fingers on his chest.

She worked from the top down, using her chakra to take out the soreness of the ribs and put then back in one piece. Sakura followed the bruises lower, mending everything she could. When she reached the last of the bruises at the bottom, hands shot out and gripped her wrists. Sakura looked up, forcing her breathing normal.

"I think that's enough. They can heal on their own," Sasuke ordered. Sakura swallowed, her body becoming too hot for her comfort level.

"Alright," she agreed. Normally she'd heal her patients all the way but something in Sasuke's eyes said that if she didn't stop they were going to have a morning after. Sasuke let go of her wrist and leaned toward her to grab his shirt. Sakura stayed frozen were she was.

He pulled back and tuck his arms through the sleeves, not closing it all the way. Sakura stood and walked into the kitchen, checking the phone for any messages. There were none. Sakura heard footsteps behind her and knew they belonged to Sasuke. She turned.

"I'm going to go take a shower and go to bed. Night, Sasuke," she didn't wait for a reply, she turned and walked up the stairs that were off the kitchen and into the bathroom.

Sasuke watched her leave. He was living here for the next six months and there was no way he could remain celibate. Sasuke missed her, not just mentally but physically. He missed touching her. All the times they kissed played his mind and shot fire in his blood. Sasuke tried to shake it off.

_Kunai, blood, jutsu, Naruto eating ramen. Eww._

Sasuke followed Sakura up the stairs and heard the shower running. He went to a door on the right and opened it. The room walls were wooden brown but the bed was pink. A vanity had a make-up kit, some nail polish, kunai, hair brush, and medical text books. A desk had several jutsu in scrolls and a small book self held scrolls, books, exploding tags. This was Sakura's room.

Sasuke backed out and past the door where he heard the shower run and opened a room on the left. It had a bed with light blue covers, a desk, and a bureau. This was his room. Sasuke went in and closed the door then laid on the bed. This was going to be a long six months.

* * *

Deidara sat in his room at the inn he was staying at. It was his weekly report that he did. Six candles burned in a hexagon around him, they were the only light. His hand made the horse seal while he lowly chanted.

At the end of the chant Deidara looked up to see a hologram of the leader. He shifted positions so he knelt. The hologram walked closer, but stayed outside of the hexagon.

"Well?" he asked.

"Two days ago I took out a Chunin medic. She was slowly raising to the top, yeah," he reported. It wasn't what he wanted to report though.

"Good. In a week take out a Jonin medic, soon we'll launch the attack," the hologram imitation said.

"Leader, Sasuke Uchiha is here, yeah," Deidara said, this was the problem.

"What do you mean?" the leader demanded.

"I listening in on his trial. He came back, yeah. He's living six months with out missions and leaving the village. He's living with that girl who killed Sasori, the medic, pink hair, yeah," Deidara revealed. "And the fox brat is going to be Hokage when he gets married to a Hyuuga girl."

The leader did nothing for minute. "Can Sasuke Uchiha identify you?"

"Yes, I know he can, yeah," Deidara didn't dare lie to the leader. But he was tired of this, right now he just wanted to blow something up. He smiled at the thought.

"Avoid him. At all cost. As for the medic, we'll move our dead line up. In a week kill her and anyone else in the hospital at the time. Make it at dusk. In a week at dusk kill her and the everyone in the hospital, the rest of us will begin the silent take down," the leader ordered.

"Understood, yeah," Deidara smiled. Soon he'd get to kill that brat who kill Sasori. Life was sweet. He blew out a candle and the leader disappeared. It was time for Konoha to fall.

* * *

**A/N: if you're expecting a big show down between the Akatsuki and Konoha, you're going to be so happy. But I feel this story drawing to a close. Give it a few more chapters and we have the fight, then the end. But don't worry, I'll make it a good fight. But I do have a question pertaining to Sasuke and Sakura. Do you want me to up the rating or not?**

**Review my little bunnies. I have no idea where that came from.**


	15. Yes

**A/N: Sorry I updated late, but this chapter's longer than the rest. Everyone's reviews bring me such joy! God I feel so alive! Oh, and two of you said that I could go ahead and up the rating and one said it didn't matter either way. So I guess the rating is getting upped. But not in this chapter. I'll give you warning for start and end of the lemon if you don't want to read it. And now I have one thing to say to you guys.**

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Sakura woke up earlier than usual on her day off. She couldn't sleep. All night, instead of getting dreams about bloodshed, snake tongues, and her friends' death, she was plagued with dreams of Sasuke. In ways that made her sweat and need an air conditioner.

He was in her dreams kissing her so sweetly that she couldn't breath. Or he was throwing her against a wall about to make love to her with raw intensity. One dream she had was of a wedding, her wedding and her wedding night.

She threw off the covers and stepped on the cool hard wooded floor. She went to the vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. She had a red face, feverish looking and messed up hair from sleeping. She had bit her lip in her sleep obviously because her bottom lip was red and swollen. She groaned and brushed her hair.

Sakura left her room and walking down the stairs, quietly as to not wake Sasuke. She went into the kitchen and looked at the sink. It was full of dishes to be washed and she didn't feel like doing them. But she had no choice and walked over the sink and pulled out the dishes and set them on the counter then filled the sink with water.

Ten minutes later her hands were wrinkled and wet and the brown murky water was going down the drain. She looked up through the window and saw the sun, it was illuminating the white floor and warming the room.

Sakura reached up and tried to grab a kitchen towel. The small thing was in a cabinet above the sink and she couldn't reach it. She jumped and only managed to knock her hand against the bottom of the cabinet.

"Oww, damn it all," she muttered to herself. A hand appeared behind her. She gasped and turned only to see Sasuke bringing down a kitchen towel. Sakura studied his features. The sun glinted off his hair, making it seem almost blue. The darkness of his eyes examined her as she looked into them. Her breath caught.

Sasuke held up the towel and she took it. "Thanks. Did you just wake up?" she asked drying her hands and pushing the pink hair out of her eyes.

"Yeah," he said, not taking his eyes from her face. When he woke up he heard her downstairs, rattling something. At the bottom landing he saw she jumping for the towels in the cabinet above her head. Her pink hair bounced up and down when she jumped. The small tank top she had on rode up along her belly and his brain shut down.

"Okay," she smiled. Sakura felt the heat of his body and shivered. He wore no shirt and his upper chest and torso were all slabs of muscle. She swallowed and tried to keep her eyes on his face. Willpower left her and she back up to hit the sink, he stepped forward.

Sasuke seemed dazed. He saw Sakura in front of him. His hand grabbed her cheek and rubbed his thumb over the soft surface. Her eyes closed and she leaned into him. He smirked. One touch and she was under his thumb, at his will.

Leaning down, their lips made contact. Sensation filled Sakura as she felt Sasuke's lips move. They gently coaxed hers' open and took an exploration of her mouth. The heat of his tongue warmed her, sending a wetness spreading between her legs.

Sasuke had his other hand drift to her waist and pulled her against his body. Sakura's arms found his shoulders, then one sunk into his mass of black hair. Sasuke pressed her against the sink, in turn pushing her harder against himself.

Sakura let out a content sigh, his mouth swallowing it, but he got dizzy from no oxygen. Sasuke pulled back, his forehead against hers'. Their breath mingled together and Sakura gripped at his body, as he had no shirt on. Her legs felt weak. It had been too long since he had touched her.

Sakura opened her eyes, only to find his intensely heated gaze directed at her and her body. Sakura felt her face grow hot and she squirmed, trying to get rid of the wetness he caused. He smirked at her, she smiled.

They both felt a sudden vibration and jumped. The sound and feel came from Sakura's chest. He gave her a questionable look.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, eyeing her chest, where the sound permitted.

"My pager," she said, pulling down the front to unclip the pager from her bra strap. She held it in her hand and almost looked at it when Sasuke's hand covered her own.

"Ignore it," he demanded softly, bending to her neck. He blew on the joint where her neck met her shoulder and then placed his lips on the smooth skin. Sakura moaned. It encouraged him and he nipped at the skin, grazing his teeth over it while his hands found the hem of her shirt. It had been too long since he had been able to touch her.

"Hmmm, Sasuke, I can't think when you do that," Sakura moaned. The throaty sound held lust and Sasuke licked over his mark that he made. Sakura felt for his chest and pushed. It did no good. His hands went under her shirt, feeling her flat stomach. Sasuke played with the area around her belly button.

Sakura found his hands and held them still. "I have to look at it," she told him. He straightened and pulled his hands from her shirt to his sides. Sakura followed the movement of his hands, then mentally shook herself to look at the pager.

It read _Naruto._ Then it flashed again. _Grab teme. _Sakura looked at it curiously. It flashed a third time._ Ichiraku's._ Sakura gave the pager an exasperated look. She looked back to Sasuke, who was taking his time looking over her body.

"It was Naruto. He wants to meet us at Ichiraku's," Sakura said.

"Stupid dobe should live there," Sasuke mumbled. Catching the comment, Sakura smiled. She went upstairs and pulled on her regular red jacket, shorts, and beige skirt. Back down stairs Sakura saw Sasuke sitting at the kitchen table with himself dressed.

"Come on," Sakura said pulling him out the door. The door closed and she dragged Sasuke down the street to Ichiraku's. Along the way they were met with glares, indifferent looks, and looks of curiosity. Both ignored every look. News sure did travel fast.

Coming by Ichiraku's they heard slurping and the owner yelling at someone. Pushing aside the curtains Sasuke and Sakura saw Naruto with five piles of ramen, all four bowls high. Sakura went in and sat by Naruto, Sasuke sat on Sakura's other side.

"What is it, Naruto?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked over, swallowing a mouthful of ramen.

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were doing anything," Naruto said, simply. Sakura took her hand, fire and annoyance in her eyes, and punched the back of Naruto's head, causing it to ricochet off the bar. She then grabbed his shirt collar.

"What the hell could we possible be doing at eight in the morning, you idiot?!" she yelled at him. Naruto held up his hands in a silent surrender.

"I was just making sure. Besides, teme never sleeps, I figured you'd both be awake anyway," Naruto told her. She let go of his collar and sat back in her seat. Naruto rubbed his head where a lump was starting to form. Then Kakashi poofed in beside Sasuke. He took one look at the bowls around Naruto and smiled under his mask.

"Starting early, are we?" he asked. Naruto just stuck his tongue out at his old sensei. He chuckled and looked at his old team, then stopped his eye on Sasuke.

"For someone who's supposed to be chaperoned, you're hard to find," he said. Sasuke just shrugged. "I checked everywhere in Sakura's house."

"Wait, how did you get in my house? It locks automatically," she asked, eyeing Kakashi wishing to turn him to dust.

"The window," Kakashi stated like it was the obvious. Sakura put her chin in her hand.

"Doesn't anyone use a phone anymore?" she asked no one in particular. Kakashi snickered. Sasuke decided to discreetly move closer to Sakura. That was a perverted snicker, Sasuke knew it from a mile away.

"I sometimes do," Kakashi said, he tried to control his laughing.

"I'm not talking about nine hundred numbers," Sakura said fiercely, glaring at Kakashi. Sasuke fought to control the tugging on the corners of his mouth. This was what he missed and what didn't change.

"You found me out, Sakura. I'm impressed," he said dully, smiling still under his mask. Sakura waved it off, not in the mood to argue with him. "So, Sasuke, I figured we could spar."

"Whatever," Sasuke said. Naruto looked at Sakura and Kakashi.

"What are nine hundred numbers?" he asked. Sakura rounded on him, eyes huge. When she saw his muddled expression she realized he wasn't trying to be funny.

"They're sex numbers. You call one and you'll more than likely get a girl named Naughty Kitten who wants to have phone sex with you," Sasuke bluntly pointed out to him. Sakura openly gapped at his blunt answer.

"Ew," Naruto simply said, his face a comical green. Kakashi stood up and Sasuke followed suit. They left the ramen stand walked down the way to the training grounds.

"Anyways, Naruto. What did you _really_ want to talk about?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked back to her blankly then remembered what he was doing.

"Ah, Sakura, how about we go to your place?" Naruto asked. He didn't ask for an answer but dragged her in the direction of her house. Sakura would have smacked him for this but he seemed so determined that it would be rude to shut him down.

Once at her front door, Sakura unlocked the wooden barrier and Naruto plowed inside even before she did. Worried, Sakura shut the door and followed Naruto, who sank into the couch. She sat beside him, gazing over his nervous face.

His normally tanned skin was pale, his usual bright blue eyes that she depended on so much sometimes were jittery, uneasy. She guessed whatever it was, was rubbing his nerves raw. And Naruto doesn't have nerves.

"Okay, what is it?" Sakura interrogated. Naruto fiddled with his fingers.

"You're a girl, so how would you want to be asked to get married?" Naruto rushed out. He seemed unable sit still and jumped off the couch and started pacing. Sakura smiled.

"Naruto, first thing's first. Have you asked her father if you were allowed to marry Hinata?" Sakura asked. Hinata was a high social class and to be head of the Hyuuga clan, he couldn't just marry her without consent.

"Yeah, he said that Hinata renounced her title as head of the house to her sister and that I could marry her when I wanted to," Naruto said agitated. He wanted her to answer the question, not ask questions of her own.

"The ring?" Sakura asked. He pulled the small velvet box out of his pocket and showed it to her. Sakura nodded at it. "There's nothing left but to ask."

"But how do I do that?" Naruto demanded in frustration. Sakura got off the couch and stood in the way of his pacing. She had never seen him like this before. It was frightening and amusing at the same time.

"In a romantic setting. By the sunset, a body of water, maybe. In front of every one," Sakura suggested holding on to his shoulders.

"What's romantic?!" he stressed. Sakura gripped his shoulders more tightly to make sure he didn't bounce his way through the roof.

"Candles, moonlight, the sunset, just you two together, alone. Come on Naruto, I'm giving you gold," Sakura stressed back. She shook him a little to get the point acrossed.

"I know, Sakura and I'm sorry but I'm nervous. I want it to go perfect," Naruto confessed. Sakura smiled at his statement. That was so sweet.

"Look, Naruto, how about you practice on the closest thing you can get without actually proposing?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked down at her, completely confused. Sakura smiled and formed a hand sign. She willed her body to transform into Hinata.

Naruto jumped back slightly. "This?" Sakura nodded, her dark hair getting in the way of her vision. She pushed it out of her eyes and then pointed her fingers together in very Hinata-like gesture.

"H-Hi, Naruto-kun," Sakura said as Hinata, mimicking her voice. Naruto swallowed a lump then steeled himself.

"Hinata-chan, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Naruto said, pretending that this was Hinata. He got down on one knee and looked up at Sakura's eyes, who were parading as Hinata's lavender one's.

"Will you marry me?" Naruto asked holding Sakura's hand. It was shaped just like Hinata's.

"What the hell?!" a voice from the from the front voiced in a pissed off manner. Both teens looked to see Sasuke standing in the doorway. Sakura let the transformation jutsu release, giving her back her normal appearance.

"Sasuke, it's not what it looks like," Sakura cautioned. Sasuke's face grew impossibly dark, his arms crossed over his chest.

"And what does it look like, Sakura?" Sasuke asked lowly. Sakura shivered, anticipation raking her body. It really shouldn't have turned her on, but it did.

"What does it matter, teme? It's not like you two are…," Naruto stopped his statement, looking at the two. Sakura gave away the most. She looked guilty.

"Naruto, I didn't want you to overreact if I told you," Sakura amended. Naruto was like the brother she never had. Any man that wasn't the rookie nine or Kakashi-sensei and Naruto was glaring at them if they so much as looked at her too long.

"How can I overreact when I expected this to happen?" Naruto asked, slightly sarcastic. Sasuke smirked at his best friend.

"So you're not as stupid as you look," he dryly commented. Naruto grinned to himself.

"Of course not. You don't go running around after any girl who gets kidnapped. Wait…TEME!" Naruto made a mad dash for Sasuke. Sakura grabbed his collar. "I am NOT stupid!"

"Wait, Sasuke. Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. There was no one behind Sasuke.

"He left. The Hokage wants to see me and Naruto, that's why I'm here," Sasuke stated. Naruto calmed down and Sakura let go of his shirt.

"What for?" Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke with accusation and excitement. Sasuke just shrugged. He didn't know what the hell she wanted them for. He looked over at Sakura, who was avoiding his gaze.

What he had just witnessed was enough to get his blood boiling. First off, Naruto wouldn't propose in Sakura's house. Second off, the Hinata he saw was giving off the charka signature of Sakura. And there was no way in hell he was going to lose Sakura after all he went through. Not now, not ever.

"Come on, teme. Let's move," Naruto said, dragging Sasuke out the door and into the street. "We'll see you later, Sakura," Naruto yelled waving at her with an annoyed Sasuke in his hands. Sakura smiled and waved back then went back in the house to take a long bubble bath.

* * *

Tsunade sighed looking at the report of missing persons' for five of the medic staff. Five missing in three months wasn't natural. One was one of the best, another was on her way to being great, and three were skilled and experienced nurses. It was suspicion, unheard of, and not right in the least.

She sighed again. This was a problem, a big one. There was only one smart enough to come up with such a plan. Akatsuki. This reeked of their stench, but how did they do it with out getting seen? They might not be dead, but she wasn't expecting them alive after they go missing. But it was just too much coincidence that five of the medic staff would leave in three months.

Tsunade took out a bottle of sake and chugged it. By the time she was out of breath, half the bottle was gone. Tsunade looked at their patient records. All were healing well and none had a complaint about the medics. She needed to remember to get Sakura to the hospital and help pick up the slack.

There was a knock at the door. Tsunade groaned, not in the mood for Shizune yelling at her that she was destroying her liver. That and these disappearances were far more than that, she just had to prove it.

"What?!" she yelled through the door. It opened to reveal Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Right, she called for their presence. Damn, she should have remembered that.

"Old lady, you called us, so stop yelling," Naruto shouted, coming up to stand in front of her desk and cross his arms over his chest. Sasuke came to stand beside him but in a more relaxed position. Tsunade cracked her knuckles under the desk.

"Shut up, Naruto. Anyway, there's something I need you two to do for me," Tsunade began.

"But I thought teme wasn't allowed on missions," Naruto interrupted. Tsunade resisted the urge to hit him. She wasn't sending them on a mission. And Naruto just might get any missions after this is over.

"This isn't a mission. This is an order. I want you to find these five missing medics," Tsunade threw a file on the desk. It stopped at the edge, some of the photos sliding out so they were visible.

"You expect us to find them alive?" Sasuke asked, he controlled the sarcasm in his voice. Looking over the photos, he noticed that there were no physical similarities. It could be serial kidnappings.

"No, unfortunately, I don't. This has been going on for a span of three months. At first they looked like accidents of 'no call, no show' but not anymore," Tsunade explained. Naruto picked up a photo of a girl no older than him with black hair and dark blue eyes.

"How long have they been missing?" Naruto asked, putting the photo down. Tsunade studied him and then hid a smile. He was going to be a great Hokage.

"The first two went missing about two and a half months ago, days apart. The third was a Jonin medic, very high class, good at what she does. She went missing about a month and a half ago. The fourth was a very experienced nurse, she kicked it about three weeks ago. The last one was the night Uchiha came back, about three days ago. Remember that they're missing, I want to see their bodies and I want to know who did it," Tsunade detailed. Her theory panned out and she now wanted to know who was behind it.

"Why wait this long?" Sasuke asked. The missing medics would have been obvious after the third one, she held out this long for a reason. It wasn't the act of a Hokage, it was the act of someone testing something.

"I had a theory and I'm sorry that I was right," Tsunade explained to him. After the third was a 'no call, no show' Tsunade knew something was up. And sadly, she was right. After a search of the village and the medics' homes, there was nothing.

No clue, no footprint, no blood. They disappeared, that was were Sasuke came in. With his sharingan he could find stuff others can't, couple that with Naruto who is stubborn and relentless, and she had the perfect team.

"What theory?" Naruto asked, skeptical written on his expression. No theory could have been worth all this. He would have had someone after the first went missing. The medics could be dead by now and all of it was for a theory?

"That there's going to be an attack on Konoha," Tsunade got right to the point. The only reason to attack the medical core before a war is to lower the ninja able to get back up after a blow that would have been life threatening if a medic hadn't healed it.

"How do you know?" Naruto demanded. He had his fists clenched at his sides. He was obviously thinking that Hinata was a proficient medic, as was Sakura**(I have no idea if Hinata's a medic, but let's say that she does medic stuff on the side, yeah?)**.

"Think strategy, Naruto. To hit an enemy were it hurts, you take out their ability to recuperate after deadly injury," Tsunade stressed the blond boy. Naruto thought a little then nodded in understanding.

"So do you have an idea of who this is?" Sasuke inquired. She must have some clue or idea of who is responsible.

"Akatsuki," Tsunade bluntly stated. "They want Naruto and we have with no intention of letting him go. They'd start a war for the nine tails. And if they cut our medics in half, they could win it."

Sasuke nodded. If the Akatsuki got the nine tails, even with out Itachi, they'd be almost invincible. It would have to be the five great nations against six people with serious power. It'd be suicide for the front lines. And without Konoha medics, who were the best out of the five great nations the Akatsuki could very well win and bring the world to their knees.

"Now, take the file and get out. When you've found something come to me," she ordered. Naruto took the file and walked back out of her office, Sasuke did the same.

Back on the streets the sun was high in the sky, it must have been around noon or one o'clock. Naruto sighed and put his hands behind his head.

"This sucks, no mission. Just stupid orders," he complained. Sasuke gave him a side long glare.

"Get over it, dobe. The faster we find these people, the faster you can go on missions," Sasuke told him. Naruto snorted.

"I doubt that. Tsunade will probably put me under house arrest if this turns out to be the Akatsuki," Naruto informed him. _Then Tsunade's smarter than she looks,_ Sasuke thought.

"I would, too. You'd screw up everything and get caught," Sasuke said, smirking at him.

"Whatever, teme. You'd be so worried about Sakura that you choke up or something," Naruto yelled back, ending in a satisfied smirk at Sasuke's annoyed expression.

"I'm not the one who can't ask Hinata a simple question," Sasuke teased. Seeing Naruto's fiery face had his smirk growing. It was so easy to piss him off.

"Let's see you try it. I don't see you going up to Sakura demanding that you guys get married," Naruto finished.

"Why ruin the moment for you and Hinata?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. But Sasuke thought about it. When he was hunting down Itachi Karin always complained about Sakura and how she wasn't woman enough.

Sasuke always told her to shut the fuck up. But if he really did ask Sakura, what would her answer be? Just because she loved him doesn't mean that she'd be ready for marriage. Was he even ready for marriage?

"Earth to teme, I'm yelling at you. The least you could do is listen," Naruto asked putting his hand in front of Sasuke's face. Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto. He continued, "Anyways, I'm asking Hinata tonight."

"Finally, if you don't hurry you're going to be dead last. Again," Sasuke stressed.

"Are you asking for a fight?" Naruto yelled, fist raised.

"Why not?" Sasuke smirked. Yep, just like old times.

* * *

Sakura walked into her office. Tsunade called earlier, asking for her presence at the hospital. She didn't refuse. The missing medics were on Tsunade's mind. Sakura decided that she could pick up the slack. She left a note for Sasuke so he knew where she was.

Sakura put down her clip board and sat at her desk. To her left was the window, sun blaring through it. It was six in the after noon and the sun was starting to go down. She undid the clip that held her pink hair back and looked at the soft couch in front of her.

She'd like to sleep on that couch but she still had another hour until her shift ended. Sakura looked at the clip board and filled out a prescription the patient needed. She laid down the pencil and pushed away the paper. Then the intercom came up over the hospital.

"Calling the _Love Doctor,_ you are needed," she heard Ino over the intercom. Sakura smiled and picked up the phone in her office that the intercom connected to.

"This is the _Love Doctor. _What can the _Love Doctor _do for you?" she heard her voice echo along the hospital.

"Room 318,_ Love Doctor,_" Ino's voice responded. Sakura giggled to herself and hung up the phone and walked out of her office. Her office was on the third floor so she walked down the hallway a little and opened the right door.

Sakura was greeted with a shirtless Sasuke. His skin mouthwateringly pale with the blood that ran down his shoulders, over his pectoral region and the rippled of abs that accented his torso.His arms, blood stained, flexed when he moved. The blood that ran down those limbs made Sakura jealous, wishing they were her hands.

**Oh…MY…GOD! I have to be the luckiest woman on the face of this earth.**

_HELL YES. If this is heaven please let me die._

**AHMEN!**

"It's rude to stare," the rough tone woke her from her thinking with herself. She lifted her head to find Sasuke's gaze eating at her own. Her breath caught in her throat. His eyes were on fire, much like her body. They were hungrily devouring her with one single look.

"Wait. Sakura, you're the Love Doctor?" Naruto's voice was like throwing her into a cold bath filled with ice cubes. She looked to her left and saw Naruto beaten and bloody, like Sasuke.

"It's a long story," Sakura managed. Her own voice was rough with something akin to need. She looked at the damage done to both men with out using her chakra. On the outside they sported cuts, gashes, exhaustion, and bruises. This was going to be a while.

"We have a lot of injuries," Sasuke insisted, shifting on the table. Sakura sighed. That was a subtle way to get her talk.

"Which one first?" Sakura asked, cracking her knuckles. Naruto immediately scooted away.

"Teme can be first," Naruto suggested, watching her hands like the plague.

"Chicken," Sakura teased him.

"Not chicken. Smart," Naruto replied. Sakura shook her head and walked over to Sasuke. She ignored the heated gaze, the tightening of her stomach, and the quicker breath. She just had to ignore it all and then she wouldn't have to jump him in front of Naruto while she was on duty. God help her, it wasn't working.

"And the Love Doctor?" Sasuke asked, feeling her hands over his shoulders and on his skin fluttered his heart, making it jump to his throat. He needed something to occupy himself besides the heat of her smooth hands.

"Me and Ino were at a club one night and she needed love advice," Sakura gave an all around view point.

"That's it? That's not fun," Naruto said disappointed. Sakura giggled a little to herself.

"Well she asked if she should marry this guy, but she was drunk and I had to drag her away from the chapel because both of them were drunk. While we were on our way home Ino stopped and got me a stuffed bear dressed like a doctor but its name tag has 'love doctor' on it with a medical prescription for love," Sakura explained. She broke a sweat on her brow as she finished healing the most server wounds on Sasuke's body.

"I can picture her doing that. When did this happen?" Naruto asked, smiling.

"Three weeks ago," Sakura asked smiling back. She went over Sasuke's body and started healing the small cuts and bruises when he grabbed both her wrists. Wide-eyed, she looked up at his face. He was flush, and had gained more color than normal, Sakura realized he was blushing.

"I'm fine now," he clipped the words, his tone low. The hawk-like gaze giving her shivers up and down her spine. The room grew hot.

"Are you people done gawking at each other?" Naruto rudely asked. They broke apart from their mutual gaze to look at Naruto.

**Stupid Naruto. He ruined the moment!**

_No, he just doesn't want to see his team mates undress each other with their eyes._

**Who wouldn't want to undress Sasuke with their eyes? We do it when we're not even looking at him!**

_We'll keep that between us for now._

**No need. Sasuke just figured it out.**

Sakura's eyes fell back on Sasuke to see him observing her, ignoring Naruto. Under the scrutiny she felt small, feminine, and very aroused. She shifted her legs closer together, trying to make the feeling go away or last, she didn't know which. Then Sasuke released her wrists and glared at Naruto. He glared back. Sakura grew tired of their kid games.

"Knock it off, both of you. You guys just spent all afternoon killing each other. If you want to do it again, do it on your own time, not mine," she said, exasperated. Naruto looked away from Sasuke and watched Sakura approach him. Sasuke just lessened his glare.

Sakura made Naruto lay on the bed, to heal some broken bones. He kept fidgeting and moving around. Sakura's temper rose a notch. She didn't need this now, her charka needed to replenish and Naruto was making things very difficult by not staying still. Finally she poked him, albeit gently, in a newly healed rib.

"Oww, Sakura. What was that for?" Naruto sounded like a wounded puppy. The act didn't fool Sakura as he pouted.

"If you would be still then I wouldn't have to hurt you," Sakura said through clenched teeth. Naruto tried to be still but as time passed he looked to the clock more often and she felt his heart rate go up every time he saw the clock. By the time she deemed him done, she clocked his pulse at 120 beats a minute. Then he thanked her and left. Sakura turned to Sasuke, confused.

"What was that about?" she asked, watching him straighten his clothes and leaving the hospital attire in the hamper by the door. Sasuke glanced at her, noting her expression and decided that it didn't matter if she knew what Naruto was going to do.

"He's probably proposing to Hinata right now," Sasuke said. Her eyes widen and she smiled. Sasuke forced down the rush of heat then spread through his body. He watch her apple green eyes dance with happiness. It made Sasuke's chest constrict, his heart beat faster. An emotion slipped through his indifference. One that he experienced when he was around Team seven. Happiness.

"The little knucklehead is growing up," Sakura gushed over the thought. Her smile widened.

"When do you get off?" Sasuke interrupted the laughable image of Naruto on bended knee in front of a tomato red Hinata. Sakura checked the clock. It was seven in the evening.

"Right now," Sakura answered. She turned back to Sasuke and found him right in front of her. Talk about invasion of personal space. He just broke her personal bubble.

"Then let's go get the rest of my stuff," Sasuke suggested. It was of a demand, but Sakura figured that they were going to do it anyway so what the hell.

"Alright," she agreed. She stepped out of the room and walked down her office to put her coat away then locked the lock and waltzed back out. Sasuke stood standing against the wall opposite her office door. He had been silent, no sound whatsoever. But Sakura got over that fast.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs. "Come on." He let her do as she wished. Because tonight, he would do what he wished with her. And he had a feeling that she'd like it.

* * *

Naruto set up the table by the lake. After he had left the hospital in a rush he went to his apartment, got his table, put by the lake, and lit two candles. Sakura had said that girls loved romantic candlelight stuff. So he bought lavender scented candles. Though the sun was setting you could still see it and the candles were sort of stupid as you could still see.

Naruto ignored that for a moment and looked at the lake. It reflected the pinks and oranges from the cloudy sunset. He sat at the table waiting for Hinata to come. His stomach wouldn't stop doing flips and the ring and box he had in his pocket seemed to burn his skin every time he thought about it.

He didn't sit for long before she ran up. She let her hair loose, like he liked it. It was a lighter shade of the midnight sky. Her eyes, like bright snow, glittering from the sun. Naruto stood, palms sweating, and tried to smile at her. She wore her usual outfit because he called her at short notice. It was his whim, and he made the split decision to ask her to marry him when he woke up. They were ninja and their lives were unpredictable.

She smiled at him as she floated up to him. "Hi, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. Naruto tried to smile, but couldn't get his muscles to cooperate with his demands. She looked at him, a worried expression going over her face.

"Why did you ask me to come over so fast?" Hinata asked. It's not like she had something better to do, but he called her and asked her come to the lake as fast as she could. It sort of scared she some what.

She ran, thinking there was something wrong with him or someone they knew. But once here, she saw a white table cloth over what looked to be like his apartment table with two burning candles and two platters covered with a top.

"Uh, I thought we could eat here tonight. We've never done that," Naruto made up. He took her hand and led her to the chair opposite the one he had been sitting in. She smiled softly at him, as if she only thought of him day and night. His breath hitched and his stomach rolled.

"Oh, okay. That's sweet," she said, unsure of the look on his face. He looked anxious and nervous, like he was expecting an attack.

"Yeah," Naruto smiled, it was strained but a smile. He took off the top to her plate and it showed beef ramen. "Your favorite." He took off the top for his and it revealed miso ramen.

"You remembered," Hinata couldn't stop the stretching of her lips again as she was constantly amazed at how sweet he could be. "Naruto, is this your table from your apartment?"

He choked a little but covered it with a cough. "Yeah, short notice and everything. But I just got the ramen so it's still hot," Naruto relaxed. He could talk about ramen all day and was glad for the change in subject. He ignored the protest his stomach gave as he put the ramen in his mouth, with the ramen he tried to swallow his nerves.

"Yes, it is," Hinata agreed and delicately slurped the food. They sat in silence while they ate which seemed to make Naruto more uncomfortable. With Naruto's discomfort, Hinata started to worry. She hadn't had time to change or shower. He wanted her over here immediately and urgently. If this was what she knew he was doing she would have put on something more feminine.

Finally, Hinata had finished with her ramen and Naruto had barely made it through half of his bowl. She was starting to wonder if he had a stomach ache or if something really was wrong and he wasn't telling her about it. She put down her chopsticks and watched him.

Naruto picked at his ramen, not really having the stomach to eat when he was this nervous. His palms wouldn't stop sweating and he was beginning to get some what nauseous. The fact that he could easily hear his own heart beat was increasingly agitating. The box with the ring was against Naruto's thigh and made him all too aware of why he asked her out here.

The sun had just dipped behind the trees when he noticed that she was observing him. Her bowl of ramen was empty and she had put her chopsticks down. There was nothing discreet in her direct gaze. It made him swallow.

"Naruto-kun, is there something you're not telling me?" Hinata asked softly. Anyone else would have made it sound accusatory but she said it with worry and curiosity.

"Well, Hinata-chan, now that you said something I need to ask you a question," Naruto requested. She looked surprised and blinked a few times. This was something she didn't expect.

"Alright," Hinata gave permission. This was different. He had been acting so strange and now he wanted to ask her a simple question. He brought her out here for a question? It just didn't have that Naruto style. Maybe something was wrong and he was going to ask her how she was going to take it.

"Ah, let me move first," Naruto said. He got up from the table and made to walk around it. But his foot caught the leg of table. Naruto fell face first in the grass and the table jerked so hard that Naruto's bowel of cold ramen went flying for Hinata. The bowel landed on her chest, Naruto saw as he stood up.

His face heated and he found the white table cloth and to help her wipe off with.

"Hinata, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Naruto chanted. The cloth and her jacket was stained with ramen as she pulled noodles off her lap and stomach. He kept repeating that he was sorry until she ended up lightly laughing. He stopped and looked at her face.

It was flushed red and her eyes seemed to sparkle with joy. He looked mystified, finding no reason to see this as funny. So much for the perfect proposal he wanted to give her.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata finished her laughing and grabbed his hands. "It's alright," she said down the kneeling Naruto at her feet. This wasn't the first time he had accidentally spilled ramen on her. The last time was when Sakura was still in the hospital about four and half months ago.

"Ask your question, Naruto-kun," she suggested. He looked at her like he had lost track of reality. Which indeed he had. Hearing her laugh was rare and every time he seemed to get caught up in it.

"Question?" Naruto asked. _Crap, the question!_

"Yes, you said you wanted to ask me a question," Hinata went in further detail. Naruto swallowed and nodded.

"Right, the question," Naruto agreed. He reached into his pocket and took out the box that held the ring he bought her. Her gaze darted to it and widened as it went back to his face. She felt heat cover her face down to her neck. This was the question? Is he serious?

But Naruto had never looked more serious. He took her hand. "Hinata, I know we haven't been seeing each long, but we've known each other for years. And I don't think about anyone but you. I want you to spend your life with me and I want to spend my life with you. Hinata, will you marry me?"

Hinata was stunned speechless. She looked at the box he opened to see a diamond ring with two light purple stones around it set in a white gold band. Her eyes then reverted back to Naruto, who was anxious in waiting for her response.

"Naruto…I…yes. Yes!" Hinata struggled to speak, but finally managing the answer she wanted to tell him. His face brightened immediately. He slipped the ring on her finger as he stood up. She stood with him and threw her arms around him.

He kissed her, slowly, deeply. Pouring every emotion he had for her and transferring it from his lips to hers'. She met him with the same intensity and let him slowly excavate her mouth, taking pleasure in the fact that this man was hers' and hers' alone. He pulled back only to kiss her again. Just as deeply, a lover's kiss.

* * *

**A/N: and the end of this chapter is here. You know at the end I was going to have Sakura and Sasuke accidentally stumble onto Naruto and Hinata, but then I decided that that moment should be their own. Beside Sasuke would never have let Naruto live down the fact that he spilled ramen on Hinata before he asked her to marry him.**

**Then I was going to go back to Sakura and Sasuke but I decided to take the idea from the author who wrote "Sasuke: Ninja Assassin" and flip a coin to see if I should write that in this chapter, but it landed on tails so I didn't. but it'll be in the next chapter. I thought I could finish this before school started, but sadly it starts on the 25****th**** of August, so I won't.**

**So get distracted by the purple button and press it to **_**review**_**. You know you wanna. Oh, and I highly recommend the story mentioned above, it's AU and in first person, but damn good. And M-rated, but you can skip that part if you want to.**


	16. I'd love to

**A/N: SORRY it took so LONG. the next installment of my story. After a few more chapters we'll have the Akatsuki fight and when that happens be patient with me. I'm a new writer and writing fight scenes takes it out of me. After I wrote 'Go back, Sakura, go back' my hands didn't move for a while. And I'll have to find out more Akatsuki attacks, because GOD knows there's hardly anything on them about that shit. Okay, shutting up now.**

**Disclaimer: yeah, I don't own it, that a problem with you? Didn't think so.**

_**Enjoy, warning though: lemon. There are markers if you don't want to read it.**_

* * *

Sasuke led Sakura to his old house. The road had hardly any people on it, as it was dusk. But they walked in silence. As Sasuke liked it like that he didn't start conversion and Sakura didn't mind. She felt content to be there with him.

Before Sakura knew it they were at Sasuke's old house. The sun was behind it, making the paint stand out as a dull grey. The place hadn't been touched in years, not since Sakura was there when she was twelve mourning the loss of Sasuke.

Sasuke stepped up to the door and took the knob in his hand. It was a little rusted, but he opened it fine. There was no squeak of the door and the inside looked just like the outside, only more dusty. Nothing really had moved or changed since she had been here years ago. The table looked older, the couch mustier, each room dull and void of emotion.

Sasuke took off to the bedroom to gather his personal things. Sakura followed the movement until he was out of sight. She felt depressed in the front room and moved into another room. This one she hadn't been in before. It looked bare, nothing in the room but a chest at the far corner. Her curiosity spiked at the chest, just sitting there it the room.

Sakura took a deep breath and walked acrossed the room. Kneeling in front of the chest, she saw no lock and no key hole. The chest itself wasn't big. It was middle sized, brown but looked black in the dark, and had a fine layer of dust.

Sakura took the sides of the chest with her hands and opened the lid. She didn't know what to expect but she didn't think it would shine with treasure. Even though it didn't. Actually, it held pictures. Family pictures of the last few generations of Uchiha. There was a man with brown hair and high cheek bones, dark eyes to where you couldn't see the pupil, standing next to a dirty blond haired woman with midnight blue eyes, holding a baby that was asleep and had a hair color of dark brown.

Sakura stared. She had thought that all Uchiha's were dark haired and had dark eyes. But Sakura knew for a fact this wasn't Sasuke's parents. She picked up the picture and turned it over. On the back the names were written but so old that she couldn't read to know who it was.

"Leave it to you to find that," a voice from behind her made her jump. She quickly turned to see the outline of Sasuke. His dark hair and eyes disappeared in the room, leaving Sakura to only see his white shirt, as his pants were black. Sakura sighed it relief and smiled, then turned back to the picture. She heard Sasuke come up behind her.

"Who were they?" she asked staring into the eyes of the people in the portrait. Sasuke kneeled down beside her to get a better look at the occupants of the photo.

"They were my great grandparents. The baby is my grandfather from my father's side," Sasuke also stared at picture, like trying to remember what they were like.

"How did they die?" she asked, curious, giving him a side glance. Sasuke had a gorgeous profile. Straight nose, strong cheek bones, intense dark eyes, square jaw line, and soft delectable lips. Sakura felt her mouth dry and turned back to study the picture.

"On a mission. They both went together and died in enemy territory," Sasuke spoke softly. His eyes no longer focused on the picture in her hands. They were directed blow that, in the chest. Sakura followed his gaze and immediately landed on a picture of Itachi. He was with his parents and looked to be about six years old. Sakura shut her eyes briefly and then opened them.

"I…How did it go… with your brother?" Sakura asked slowly, not wanting him to close up to her. He was starting to make progress and she didn't want him to clam up and crawl back in his shell.

Sasuke closed his eyes, at her question. She didn't really need to know everything but he didn't really want to say nothing. He never expected what happened during that fight. It was the last thing on his mind to think about why Itachi killed the whole family even with the fact that years ago he said that it was test his limits.

Sasuke's mind was dragged back to the field of rocks were he had accomplished one of his goals. His mind spun, his stomach nauseous with the smell of blood.

_'Sorry, Sasuke…no next time.'_

His slowly opened, not seeing the rocks, the blood, the body of his brother. But seeing Sakura, her emerald eyes searching his own, concern radiated from them in waves. Her posture stiff, waiting to see if he was going to answer. Her petal pink color hair messed up some what from the wind that had blown on the walk here, framing her delicate face. Sasuke instantly felt relief at seeing her face.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Sakura hastily put the picture over top of Itachi's picture and made to get up. Sasuke grabbed her wrist, not letting her run away. He didn't want her to leave, he wanted her there, beside him.

"It wasn't what I expected," Sasuke finally told her. Her eyes widened at his admission and then settled into a smile, glad that, even though his statement was vague, he told her something. He might never want to talk about it, but if he did she'd hear what he had to say.

Sasuke stood and took Sakura with him, then reluctantly let go of her wrist. He walked over to three bags full of things she couldn't see and picked them. She walked to him and took his hand, glad that he didn't pull away.

The walk back to her house was quiet, the same as the walk to his house. But with every step, Sakura realized that Sasuke and her were alone. Like they were in the hotel room when the maid accused them of being married. Like when they were intertwined very passionately. With that memory, came heat. It bubbled just below the surface, pulling at her stomach, twisting it in anticipation.

She pulled in a breath she hadn't known she was keeping and glanced down at her hands. They shook, hard. And she was sure Sasuke could feel it with his hand against her own. To feel Sasuke over her, his body sweaty, radiating heat, sucking on her neck like it was his life at stake, what a wonderful thing. Her hands shook harder.

Sasuke glanced down at Sakura. Darkness making her hard to see, but even with out the sharingan he could see the erotic expression she had on her feminine features. The green of her eyes glazed, caught up in her imagination. Her body, breathing heavily as he watched her chest rise and fall in a memorizing pattern. He felt the shaking of her hand on his.

Sasuke, realizing he was practically drooling all over himself, mentally kicked his own ass. He was so excited that he couldn't wait until they got to the house. But he prided himself on self control and restraining himself, but with her low groan that she hadn't realized she let out, he was on the edge of shoving her in an ally to take her. Spectators be damned.

But luckily, he saw that they had arrived at the house. The only thought occupying his mind was how to get her to the bedroom fast enough. He didn't want to take her on the couch or the floor, she deserved better than that. Sasuke looked down at her hand, shaking while holding the key. It kept missing the key hole. He finally laid his hand over hers' and directed the key into its spot and turned.

The locked door opened with out a sound and Sakura went in behind Sasuke. She saw him drop his stuff that he picked up and he watched her with an animal hunger that pulled heat and wetness to her most private area. She carefully shut the door with a click and not even a second after she was being pulled against something hard in several places and hot all over.

Sasuke didn't wait for permission. He took possession of her mouth, tongue sweeping to take in every taste and memorize every dip and feel. Sakura responded with the same enthusiasm, clutching him to her body, thinking that if she let go she'd find herself in a dream. A very real dream that she wouldn't pull through.

**Lemon Start**

His hands traced a path of fire where he touched. And Sakura was easily flammable if Sasuke was in question. They outlined her waist, squeezed her hips, and slithered down to her thigh. The thigh that he brought up around his own waist. The connection they made at the pelvis made Sakura's breath catch while a rumble from Sasuke's chest began.

Sakura grinded against his hard length. She felt a pulling sensation in the pit of her stomach and she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Sasuke rubbed harder against her, seeking a release as well. His other hand went to her nipple and rolled it through her clothing. Sakura's head rolled on the door behind her, her knees feeling weak.

Had Sasuke not pressed her to the door, she would have fell to the floor. His mouth went to her neck, where he sucked and bit, not trying to be gentle. He wanted her too much to go slow and take pleasure to enjoy it. He wanted it hard and fast.

Sakura had no problem with that, her hands already pulling his shirt over his head. It was too hot, the oxygen wasn't enough, she was breathing Sasuke, too. After he forfeited his shirt, Sakura had the instinct and following through, ran her nails over his chest. They left marks, marks that made Sasuke pull her closer. The sweet friction made by their clothes heightened her sensation. Seemed to make both of them fly on a sexually demanded high.

Sasuke unzipped the red jacket she wore, not paying attention to where it landed, only paying attention to the hardened bud of nipples that were pointing through her netted shirt begging to be suckled and fondled with. Which was what he did.

Pushing her up the door, Sakura pulled her legs around him and arched her back, allowing him to take a rosy bud in his mouth to lavish as he wished. While his tongue did terrible, sweet, and orgasm worthy things to her breasts with his hand and mouth, one hand snaked up her shorts to rub through her panties.

She groaned at the heat of his finger against her wet core and rocked into his hand on instinct. She remained high, but came down enough to bite his shoulder which earned her a violent and lasting stroke of his hand in between her legs.

Sakura trailed her hands down the muscle of his chest, caressing the ivory skin and skimming her nails close to his pants line. He jerked off her breast, taking his hand away from her body to look at her.

Taking one glance at her pleasured on the verge of ecstasy look, he grabbed her ass and pulled her closer and hauled her off to the stairs. He took her up and on the second to last stair, lost his footing and fell in between her spread legs, hands still on her buttocks.

Sakura didn't mind, and pulled him on top of her, her back on the landing of the steps. The grinding friction of being slid up Sakura's almost half naked body put red in his gaze. Red meaning lust. The fire Sasuke had tried to control burst free, burning him to the core, making him so hard that it hurt, in turn heightening his pleasure.

Sasuke ripped the remaining shirt, shoving the offending material from her body. Then trailed his hot kisses from her neck to his cleavage of her breast to the nipple of both breasts so neither were left out and then down her flat stomach, nipping at her bellybutton, earning him a sated moan from the sprawled out woman he was eating like an open buffet. He helped her out of her skirt and shorts.

Sasuke had made his destination known when Sakura, in a pleasured haze, felt something wet, hot, addicting licking at her entrance. She jumped but moaned, bucking her hips. Sasuke held her down by her legs, spreading them more so he was more accommodated. He blew on the pink folds that matched her hair. She squirmed, wanting his tongue or his hand at least. She didn't need to be teased.

"Sasuke," Sakura whined, head thrown back as he licked her again when his name passed her lips. He made to pull back but she gripped his head with her knees.

"Finish what you started," Sakura demanded. Sasuke smirked, loving the needy, breathy tone she adopted when he played with her body.

"I will," he answered. The promise made her think of hot, lacing tongues and sated desire burning to a crisp in a sexual haven. One she knew Sasuke was taking her to.

Sasuke took her knees and pulled them off the sides of his head, gathered her in his arms and when as fast as he could to the closest room. Hers'. The door shut as Sakura was thrown on the bed, Sasuke immediately joining her. He smoothly took the beige skirt and black short off her creamy body and surveyed her naked. Flushed cheeks and breasts, a few love marks on her chest and stomach stating his claim, and the slight curly pink hair hiding a sweet treasure.

Jumping out of his ogling, Sasuke felt Sakura's sinful hands on his pants, brushing his erection. She then went straight for the gold, taking down his boxers and pants in one swift motion. The at the ready anatomy of Sasuke tantalized her. Mesmerized, she took him in her hands. He sucked in a hard breath. She smiled.

Sakura took her hand up to the tip, flicking it with her thumb, wetting her finger with pre cum. She then glided her finger over the rest from tip to base. Bring it up she used her whole hand. Sasuke's balls decided at that moment to tighten. He took her wrist and pulled her hand away from his dick.

"S-Sasuke," she gasped, wanting to keep going. He put his mouth to her ear and intertwined their hands, placing himself at her heated entrance.

"Shh, _cara,_" he told her. He rubbed between the lips of her treasure, savoring the feeling she projected.

"Hurry," she begged. He did as told and entered in a quick motion. In one moment he realized he had not prepared her for his invasion of her body. She cried out, in pain, but he stilled, letting her inner walls squeeze him.

Sasuke shuddered feeling her heat, the walls of her most private area clenching him, squeezing what was impaled in her. Sakura felt the stab of a knife, but soon the velvet of Sasuke penetrating her was al that held her mind.

She moved her hips, Sasuke pulled out and slid in again. First he started slow, a leisurely movement of joining them together, going up and down on her body. His only hand that was empty held her in place.

But it wasn't enough, for both of them. Sasuke pounded harder, taking them both to the edge of a cliff. The walls of her squeezed him harder, the more he impaled her, harder, faster. Sakura felt as if she reached the stars. There was no one but her and Sasuke. Man and women. In an age old dance that never stopped. Both didn't where they were, their names, the only thing that mattered was this moment. The joining of two souls without words.

Sakura was pushed off the edge, climaxing over again until Sasuke joined her in the skies. She felt slippery heat jet into her womb as the aftershocks kept her sated. Sakura felt the weight of Sasuke and that brought her to earth, in a highly pleasured and satisfied way. She felt him roll over, he didn't want to crush her with his weight.

**Lemon End**

On his back, Sasuke dragged her under his arm, Sakura went willingly. She loved his embrace and smiled. He gave a content sigh and her smile grew.

"What does _cara_ mean?" she whispered, tilting her head slightly to his face.

"Huh?" he asked, his hand still folded with her fingers. She slowly closed and opened her eyes.

"You called me _cara_," she told him.

"Means 'beloved' in Italian," he answered. Sakura felt her eyes widen then broke into a smile. Tired and sated she closed her eyes to sleep. On the edge of sleep she heard Sasuke.

"Sakura?" he sounded strangely nervous.

"Hm?" she asked.

"I want you to marry me," Sasuke stated. Sakura, half asleep and a barely working mind moved and kissed him sweetly on his soft lips that could do wicked things.

"I'd love to, Sasuke," Sakura smiled at him, sleepy and a lopsided smile, Sasuke found her beautiful. He slipped on a ring that he had carried since his parents were killed. He watched her sleep with his ring on her finger and then fell into the black abyss himself.

* * *

Sakura woke, warm and relaxed, in Sasuke's arms. Opening her eyes she watched the glow of his black hair in the sunlight, the skin of his face pale shining off her sheets. A smile stretched on her lips. Last night had been great, a forget-me-not. One she would never forget even if she wanted to.

"I remember you saying you wanted to wake up beside me in the morning," Sasuke reminded her, eyes still closed. Sakura gasped then quickly recovered, this was Sasuke they were talking about of course he would do something like this.

"Yeah, I did," Sakura agreed. She snuggled closer to Sasuke and he held her. Then her window broke open.

"SAKURA! SAKURA! Guess what!" the yelling of an over active knucklehead ninja did amazing things to Sakura at seven in the morning. First it made her forget that Sasuke was beside her. Second, it made her forget that they were both naked. Those two things were a bad combination.

Sakura immediately sat up, holding the sheets to her naked body. She looked at the frantic Naruto and automatically thought the worst.

"What? What is it? Who's dead?" she asked. Naruto seemed to freeze at her lack of clothing, his face seemed to ask the question 'what the hell happened to your clothes?'. Still he said nothing back.

Sasuke sat up, hair mussed, annoyed features spread on his face, glaring at Naruto.

"Say it, dobe," Sasuke demanded. Naruto just interrupted a very nice moment for Sasuke. He had Sakura beside him, his ring on her finger, the only thing missing was his baby in her stomach.

**Whoa, slow down. Wait until she at least notices the ring.**

_Yeah, whatever._

**Pay attention. The dobe is saying something.**

"Teme?" Naruto looked between Sasuke and Sakura then burst out, "My eyes! They're burning!" He dramatically covered his eyes, not looking at them.

"Naruto, get out!" Sakura shouted at him, pointing at her bedroom door. Naruto opened it and rushed out, slamming it behind him. Sakura, embarrassed beyond belief, threw off the covers and went looking for her garments on the floor. She didn't see anything of hers', so she went to her dresser and quickly put on clothes.

She turned to Sasuke to see him in his pants and nothing else. He had scratch marks in various places on his chest, most of them at the waist band of his pants and he was sporting a reddish purple mark on his shoulder where she bit him. She blushed harder and went down stairs to yell at Naruto about knocking.

She heard Sasuke follow, probably wanting his shirt back. She reached the bottom landing and went through the dining room then the kitchen to storm into the living room were Naruto was holing up her red jacket between his thumb and pointer finger.

"Put it down," Sakura demanded, hell bent on kicking his ass. Naruto, startled, dropped it. He turned to a very pissed off looking Sakura.

"Let me explain," Naruto started. Sakura didn't give him anymore chance.

"What the hell was that? You broke my window, you didn't knock, and you woke me up when there was nothing important happening, and you walked in on me and Sasuke," Sakura yelled. Naruto backed up a space.

"But it is important," Naruto insisted. Sakura glared at him while she heard Sasuke getting his shirt on.

"Yeah? Well then it better be damn good or I'm going to reduce you to a pile of crying masculinity," Sakura threatened.

"Okay, okay. I asked Hinata to marry me and she said yes," Naruto rushed, not wanting to get hit.

Sakura started. "Really?" Naruto nodded. She smiled at him. "That's great, Naruto." She went up and hugged him. "That's a damn good reason then." Sakura let go.

"I told Granny Tsunade earlier and she said she'd throw a party, but I came here to get teme so we could go work on the order from the old lady herself," Naruto explained. Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"What order?" she asked. Sasuke shrugged like it was no big deal.

"She wants us to find the missing medics," Sasuke told her. Sakura blinked.

"But I thought there were no clues?" Sakura inquired.

"There aren't," Sasuke sounded resigned. Naruto smiled and addressed Sasuke.

"Well, let's go teme, we don't have all the time in the world," Naruto stated, too happy for someone who found his best friend in bed with his other best friend and too happy for someone who might find dead medics.

"Hn, I'll be in the shower," Sasuke turned and strode back through the rooms and up the steps.

Sakura turned to Naruto. "Tea?" He nodded.

Sakura went in the kitchen and pulled together the necessary ingredients. Naruto sat on the counter, watching her in her pajamas. He had so didn't want to see what he did but part of him knew it was inevitable. Another part wanted to rip Sasuke limb from limb. But as Naruto observed her, she hummed to herself and a bouncy step. If Sasuke could make her this happy then Naruto supposed that he should rip Sasuke limb from limb.

Naruto decided to break the silence. "So, how was it?" Naruto asked, perverted grin in place.

Sakura wide eyed, hit him over the head very hard. He held the spot while sounding like a wounded animal. Once he was done, he looked at Sakura's smile and smiled too.

"He asked me to marry him," she suddenly stated, smiling down at the tea. Naruto's smile didn't dissipate.

"I know, I can see the ring," Naruto said, nodding. Sakura's head snapped to look at Naruto.

"What ring?" she asked. Naruto pointed to her finger. She looked down. There resting on her third finger was a gold band, light small green stones decorated the sides, and in the middle of it was diamond cut in an octagon shape. It was the most gorgeous thing she had every seen.

"Oh my god," Sakura whispered. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," Naruto appreciated. At that moment Sasuke chose to stand on the bottom landing. Sakura bombarded him with her body as he threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, bringing him so close. Sasuke brought his arms around her waist.

"Eugh, I'm still here, you know," Naruto complained in his disgust. Sasuke pulled back to smirk at Naruto.

"Then leave or watch," he told his friend, smirk growing as he looked on at the comical and disgusted face of Naruto.

"No. Sorry, Naruto," Sakura apologized, pulling away from Sasuke.

"You noticed the ring?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, it's beautiful," Sakura answered, smiling.

"Glad you think so," Sasuke admitted, forgetting Naruto was in the room.

"Damn, I need a camera," Naruto said, looking around. It was obvious as to what was on his mind: blackmail.

"Don't even think about it, dobe," Sasuke growled, glaring at him. Naruto got that foxy smile, promising that he was going to tell everyone anything he could get a hold of.

"Whatever, let's go, already," Naruto dismissed. Sasuke gave up glaring, Naruto seemed to be immune to it anyway.

"Fine, let's go," Sasuke caved. He started toward Naruto.

"Don't kill each other," Sakura warned. Both turned back to look at her.

"I'm not making that promise," Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time. They looked at each other then glared while walking out the door. Sakura laughed lightly after she heard the door shut.

The phone began to ring. Sakura looked at the holder, no phone. So she followed the sound of the ring. By the time she found the phone the answering machine picked up the call. She heard her voice mail.

"_Hi, this is Sakura. I'm not here so leave a message."_ There was a clicking sound after that she heard Ino's screechy voice on the answering machine.

"Sakura, what the hell, you're an hour and a half late for work. Where the hell are you?" Another click was heard as Ino hung up the phone.

"Shit," Sakura then ran up the stairs to get a shower and dressed.

* * *

"Lady Tsunade, here are all the people who came into the village in the past three months," Shizune told her Hokage as she heaved a stack of folders on the desk in front of her.

"Agh, why must there be so many?" the Lady Hokage asked herself. Shizune schooled her features so she wouldn't laugh.

"You did ask for them," she said. Tsunade waved her hand in the air.

"Yeah, thanks. Dismissed," Tsunade said. Shizune bowed out and Tsunade took a drink out of her hidden sake bottle.

She went through the top two and decided to call it quits. She could, and should, get Naruto and Sasuke to do it. After all, it is their order.

"Shizune!" Tsunade yelled. The door burst open and before Shizune could say anything Tsunade gave her, her task. "Bring Uchiha and Naruto to me."

Shizune bowed, "Yes, m'lady."

It didn't take long for them to come. She hadn't even finished her sake bottle before Naruto came bursting in, yelling at how they were interrupted.

Tsunade sighed and Naruto quieted down. "Are you done?" Naruto, out of his good sense, nodded.

"Good, in front of you are a stack of people who came into the village three months ago and haven't left yet," Tsunade gestured to the stack of folders. Naruto raised his eyebrows while looking at the stack.

"You have got to be kidding?" Naruto said, mouth in awe at the stack. It came up to Tsunade's head. Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"No, I'm not kidding. Look through it, you might find something that catches your interest," Tsunade said, pushing them the pile. Naruto caught it.

"Why didn't you give it to us yesterday?" Sasuke asked.

"It wasn't in yesterday. You're dismissed," Tsunade said. The two boys left the room and Tsunade finished off her bottle.

She looked at the pictures of the Hokages before her. The first, her grandfather. The second, one of the best. The third, the kindest man anyone would meet. And the fourth, Naruto's father, the most revered.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't see you coming down from your perch telling me what I'm doing is wrong or right," Tsunade said to the fourth's picture. She blinked and then looked down at the bottle in her hand.

"Maybe it's too early for this," she said, then put the bottle down.

* * *

Deidara was back in the motel room. The six candles in place, inside them was Pein. Deidara bowed.

"Have you made preparations?" the Leader asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Deidara said. "I have made blueprints, yeah, and know the shift of every medic, yeah."

"Good, five days is all we'll have to wait. I'll give you a signal to start on that day. Until then, don't draw attention to yourself," Pein ordered.

"Of course, yeah," Deidara said. The hologram disappeared. Deidara smirked, he couldn't wait to see the girl who kill Sasori and have a go with the youngest Uchiha brat. This would be fun. He was sure, yeah.

* * *

**A/N: So, whoever invented School should BURN IN HELL AND NEVER BE ALLOWED TO THINK AGAIN! Sorry, but that's why I'm late. School really takes it out of you, man. So review, and tell me what you think. And appreciate the lemon, it was hard to write. And sorry for any spelling errors, so on and otherwise. And the part where it's in italics on Sasuke's memories of what Itachi said, I got that off a picture. I don't know if Itachi said that but it's not my quote or my idea. Just so every one knows.**

_**Review, because you love me!**_


	17. Where in the Village

**A/N: another chapter, another dollar. Not really but I wish. But in this chapter we have a little investigating and in the next chapter we'll skip a few days cause going day by day will be boring for you to read and me to write so, yeah. So we need to get the ball rolling.**

**Disclaimer: Standard.**

* * *

_**Previously,**_

"_Sakura, I want you to marry me."_

_--_

"_I'd love to."_

_--_

"_Five days is all we have to wait, until the destruction of Konoha."_

* * *

In the hospital, Naruto and Sasuke walked into the office a the chunin medic. It was a standard office, few pictures of family, a desk in front of the large window, filing cabinets, a bookshelf with the latest medical information, and everything was spotless and clean. That tipped Sasuke off right from the beginning. The kidnapper had something to hide to clean up this much.

Naruto walked around the room, he stopped at the desk and picked up a document. He read it over, then pulled chakra into his nose, something he learned from Kiba, and sniffed it. Naruto immediately pulled away, the hospital chemicals so strong that they churned his stomach. There was nothing of importance on the document so he put it down.

"I can't smell anything with all this hospital sterilizer crap," Naruto complained. Sasuke glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.

"Then don't smell anything in here," Sasuke stated. Naruto rolled his eyes at his friend and pulled open a drawer. Inside was a stack of papers, all the words not making sense. Then under it Naruto saw a small square book. He would have thought it was a diary but the cover said _appointment book_ in silver letters.

"Teme, look at this," Naruto said as he opened the book to the day she disappeared. He skimmed the words until it said _Work: 8:30a.m. to 7:30p.m._ She was reported missing at midnight because she never came home to her apartment and her roommate was worried.

Sasuke walked over to Naruto and saw the little black book in his hands. Scanning the words he saw what Naruto saw. A bad thing, though, was that it wasn't unusual for medics to work overtime. Sasuke looked down farther and saw a line that caught his interest. It was in the category for the next day._ Go to Ms. Haruno's office for details of promotion._

"It's not unusual to work over time. It's unusual to go missing right before being promoted," Sasuke told him, pointing to the sentence. Naruto cocked his head at it.

"So this guy is kidnapping medics who are becoming good at their profession?" Naruto asked, eyebrows raised. Sasuke just nodded. Naruto's jaw clenched. "Look around, teme, everything's spotless. If ANBU didn't find anything then how are we going to?"

"Carefully," Sasuke said. He closed his eyes, drawing charka to the pupils in both his eyes. Upon opening them, everything was negative. Everything that was once dark was now white, everything that was once light was now black. Anything that was a foreign object, would turn up red. But there was nothing that was red. Sasuke checked the room, every inch of the room. No part of it red. He turned to Naruto, covered in black and white. No orange, it was strange change.

"There's nothing here," Sasuke said.

"Alright, let's go to the apartment. Maybe she went out here and it happened on the street," Naruto suggested. He went to the door and put his hand on the knob, turning it. Sasuke was next to Naruto in a flash. Surprised, Naruto lost his footing and almost fell back. Sasuke caught his wrist, examining his hand. There on Naruto's hand were very small flecks of red spots that showed up on a dark surface. Sasuke put his hand in his ninja pouch and produced tweezers.

"Uh, teme, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, slightly nervous. Sasuke ignored his question and took the biggest piece of red he could see off Naruto's hand. Then he let go of Naruto and turned off the sharingan.

Naruto went up to the tweezers in Sasuke's hand. He took it in his own hands and tried to see it. But the speck was barely there and it looked like an overly large dust particle. Naruto gathered chakra to his nose once more, hoping that it wouldn't reek like the hospital. One sniff was all his needed and he gave it back to Sasuke.

"It smells the hospital chemicals mixed with mud," Naruto told Sasuke, not disguising his hatred for hospital chemicals. Sasuke didn't blame him, they smelled disgusting. How could Sakura do this day in and day out?

Sasuke examined it. "We should put in under a microscope," he said, that'd give the best view. Naruto thought about it. Then his face lit up in an idea.

"I know something better! Come on, Sasuke," Naruto rushed out of the room, with his enthusiasm, he didn't realize he was dragging Sasuke by his shirt sleeve. Sasuke growled but kept up and Naruto let drag him to where he was thinking of. They left the hospital in a hurry and went down the road. Soon they entered the training grounds. Naruto rushed through it, tree by tree. Sasuke, having no choice but to follow and no idea where they were going, kept Naruto's pace until he landed right in front a meditating Neji Hyuuga.

"Hey, Neji. What's up?" Naruto asked, squatting down in front of the silent ninja. Said ninja opened one eye and took in the sight of Naruto and Sasuke. He nodded once to both of them.

"Naruto, Uchiha," he acknowledge. Then opened the other eye, but kept his sitting position.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke said back. Neji then focused on Naruto.

"Hey, Neji, I need a favor," Naruto requesting, still squatting. Neji nodded once to show he was listening to what Naruto was saying. "You think you could use your byakugan on the thing in teme's hand?"

Neji slightly raised his eyebrows, then looked at the tweezers in Sasuke's hand. He'd had stranger requests. "Of course." Neji activated the byakugan and took an up close and personally look at the tiny speck of what was in between the tweezers. To Neji it looked like dirt, with an aura of chakra around it. The aura was hardly detectable but Neji sensed it either way.

"It's a piece of dirt," Neji said flatly. Naruto looked deflated.

"That's it? Dirt?" Naruto asked disappointed, but on the verge of hope. Neji nodded.

"More specifically: clay," he explained. Sasuke's eyes narrowed a fraction. He had one person in mind now.

"Clay?" Sasuke asked. Again Neji nodded. Just as he was about to say something about the chakra aura, Naruto said something.

"I thought clay and dirt were different," Naruto voiced. Neji cleared his throat.

"They're the same if you dig in the ground deep enough," he explained. "But that piece of clay has a barely-there charka aura. The piece of dirt can be used as a weapon. I don't know anyone who does use clay, though."

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances. They nodded at each other. "Thanks Neji." Then, as suddenly as they came, they disappeared. Neji looked around, then closed his eyes to mediate some more.

Naruto and Sasuke appeared, out of nowhere on the main road of Konoha. Sasuke put the piece of dirt in a small bag in his pocket and Naruto wasted no time in talking about the find.

"So who do think it is?" Naruto brainstormed. Sasuke, fighting off a feeling of dread, shared his thoughts with Naruto.

"One person, I know, who can use clay is an Akatsuki member. He's from Rock country," Sasuke revealed. Naruto widened his eyes in understanding.

"Yeah, Deidara. The guy that says yeah all the time. He kinda looks like Ino," Naruto said, pulling everything from his memory and what he heard from Pervy Sage. "Wait, how do you know him, teme?" Naruto put his hands behind his head.

"I met him once," Sasuke said. Naruto took on a look of surprise.

"You fight?" he asked, interested and eager, turned to face Sasuke.

"Almost," Sasuke vaguely replied. Naruto turned his head back to face the road.

"Hmm, so if Deidara's in the village then where is he?" Naruto asked, voicing the question to Sasuke.

"An inn, under a transformation jutsu, probably. Let's go look at the people who came here three moths ago," Sasuke said, speculating.

"They're at my house," Naruto said. Naruto looked at Sasuke and grinned. Sasuke smirked, then the only thing left was their dust clouds as they ran for Naruto's apartment. Boys will be boys, the race was on.

* * *

"Shizune!" the barked order of one Lady Hokage echoed off her walls. Tsunade was sitting in her chair, looking through drawers trying to find the holy book so she could marry Naruto and Hinata. Her blonde hair got in her way and her brushed it out of her face as a red faced Shizune stumbled to through the door.

"Yes?" she asked, panting only slightly. Tsunade decided to take pity on her as her assistant's duties seem to be catching up with her. She held up a clipboard with a select few names that were to attend the engagement party.

"These are the people who are invited to the engagement party for Naruto and Hinata, be sure they're mailed today. And get a caterer who has sake on their menu," Tsunade demanded, thinking that was the way to take pity on poor soul.

Shizune took the clipboard and gave a reproachful look at the blond in front of her. "Is it wise to drink when you're to announce the next Hokage?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't it be? Get going," Tsunade dismissed. The dark-haired woman did as she was told and left the room quickly. Not long after she left, did her apprentice walk through the door.

"Lady Tsunade," Sakura said closing the door.

"Good, you're here. Sakura, I want you to plan the engagement party this Saturday," Tsunade ordered. She moved a scroll and studied the paper under it. It wasn't relevant so she put the scroll back and looked at Sakura.

"This Saturday? But that's three days away," Sakura reasoned. There was no way to plan a party of this nature in three days. She couldn't do this feat alone. She'd need Ino to help with a lot of things. Why so early anyway?

"Don't worry, Shizune is taking care of the caterer. But the rest I think you can do. And you won't have to worry about security, Shikamaru will take care of that," Tsunade dismissed with a wave of her hand. Sakura's brow came together in confusion.

"Security for what exactly, master?" Sakura asked, slowly, trying to hide the dread that filled her stomach on the word security. It was just an engagement party, there was no need for security of any kind.

"Sakura, I'm sure know about the missing medics. I'm sorry to say that it's making me a little worried about the village. I just want it to be a celebration, not a blood bath," Tsunade said, head held high. She saw Sakura take an intake of breath and threw her a scroll. "Here are the details of everything. I leave it to you to fill in what I left out."

With a bow, Sakura left room quietly. Tsunade relaxed in her chair, for once ignoring the call of sake that beckoned her. She heard an oink and looked down at Tonton. He seemed worried over something as the pig had been hiding under the desk for the better part of three months. She reached down and patted his head. This didn't ease his frightful expression.

"It'll be alright, Tonton," she cooed to the pig. Sitting up in her chair she put the Hokage's seal on the document that she had been looking at before she had ordered Shizune to come in. Then, the door to her office slammed open with such force that the walls shook.

Tsunade looked to see blond hair marching into the room and raven hair coolly strutting in. She didn't want a headache now but if they were here they had better have something good to tell her. She waited for Naruto to stop his ranting and catch his breath."What is it?" she asked, assuming that they had something to share. Naruto held out a tiny zip-locked baggy.

"Look, look at this," Naruto projected though she was sitting right in front of him, not even four feet between them. He shoved the little baggy under her nose. She took a glance to Sasuke but he just had a business-like face to show her. So, she took the baggy and looked at it. She furrowed her brow because it looked like…

"A piece of dirt?" she skeptically asked the pair in front of her. They were showing her a piece of dirt. If the situation hadn't been so serious she would have laughed as Naruto's face looked so intense, but she didn't.

Naruto bobbed his head up and down in a vigorous nod. "It's not just a piece of dirt, Granny Tsunade, it's clay," he said trying to make her understand.

Her light eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "So it's a very old piece of dirt," she said, not getting the point. "I still don't see anything worthwhile."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, getting bored of what was happening, tossed eight folders on the desk in front of the Hokage. They were from the file of people who arrived in the last three months. Tsunade raised her eyes to the last Uchiha and gave him a questioning look, saying 'hurry the hell up or else, you're wasting my time'.

"There were thirty-eight men who entered this village in the last three months. Twenty-six left after a month of arrival. The other twelve remained, then four of them left last month. This leaves us with eight. All eight have no criminal record, but four of them lived in Rock Country were the piece of clay came from. The other four have no record of ever setting foot in Rock," Sasuke explained to her. She was silently impressed at his research and then looked to Naruto who took over.

"One of those four arrived after the first disappearance but knew the second, third, and fourth victim. And the clay has a charka aura. For use as a ninja weapon. But only three that are under suspicion were, at one time, shinobi. For different villages, but shinobi, nonetheless. The other is a merchant. But none of them ever had contact with the Akatsuki, the only organization who has someone who uses this kind of clay. Deidara. But that's just what we know of," Naruto venomously explained. Tsunade froze at the accusation, her amber eyes aglow as the sun sank beneath the Hokage mountain.

"Are you saying that Akatsuki have infiltrated this village?" Tsunade slowly asked, wanted them to deny it, hoping they were pulling a prank.

Naruto nodded. Tsunade looked over at Sasuke for confirmation. His eyes were narrowed and his face was taunt over the bone of his skull. His face looked harsh as he said, "Yes." Tsunade dropped her forehead to her hands and took a deep breath. Damn it!

"Follow these men, ANBU will assist you, but do not make yourself known to them, keep a safe distance, and act as if there is nothing out of the ordinary going on," Tsunade said, voice low, cold as steel, and enunciated every word. Sasuke took in a deep breath, no longer wondering why she carried the title of Sannin. He took a glance to Naruto and found him stiff in anticipation. He inclined his head and strode out the door, he heard Naruto behind him. They passed Shizune who went inside to see the Lady Hokage.

The door opened and Shizune found herself with the back of the Hokage chair to her face. Shizune walked up to the desk and placed a fresh bottle of sake on the surface. As she watched the chair, she wondered if her Lady was asleep.

"Thank you, Shizune," a voice from the chair came. Shizune jumped only slightly and shivered at the tone of the Sannin, a little afraid.

"My Lady?" Shizune asked quietly. She swallowed when she was met with silence. Then finally the Hokage spoke.

"Everything's going to hell in a hand basket," Tsunade said, the under tone of her voice seething with suppressed anger, but volume hardly above a whisper.

"Are you going to take them in for questioning?" Shizune asked, eavesdropping though she was, she just couldn't help herself. The four remaining here should be questioned.

"No, then that will alert the Akatsuki that we're on to them. Even without Itachi Uchiha, they can send the five great nations to their knees if they get the nine-tailed fox," Tsunade expressed.

"Then shouldn't we keep Naruto safe?" she asked, thinking of the boy's safety.

"Naruto would never let someone fight his battles for him. Even Sasuke's worried about him," Tsunade revealed.

"The Uchiha? Worried?" Shizune asked, more skeptic than when Tsunade had the dirt in her hands.

"Yes, it's why he's not yelling at Naruto to shut up, even after they've spent the whole day together," she said. She sighed. "Shizune, get the four ANBU captains in my office, now."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," she heard a poof as Shizune left the room.

* * *

In the dark, walking home was never a good idea if you under disguise and a member a the Akatsuki. But Deidara, personally, didn't care. He walked through the night life, pitying the sad drunks on the street, and not even thinking about taking advantage of the ugly drunk women on the street. Most of them were sluts anyway. But among the filth Deidara smirked.

For all Konoha's idiotic declaration of good will, they sure did house some serious slums. It was revolting and ironic at the same time. Even his Stone village had slums but they weren't like this. Ah, the damn hypocrites. It'd make it more fun to take down the village. Ha, if the village truly were honorable then Deidara wouldn't be looking at a heroin addict six months pregnant.

But Deidara ignored everything said to him and was on an even darker street but in the better part of town. That was when he noticed a charka pattern, it was similar to Itachi's but practically none existent. Then, when it was five meters behind him diagonally, it disappeared. Not three seconds pass by did he feel the chakra pattern of, what he knew, was the fox brat's chakra pattern. Then it disappeared, in the same manner as the other one.

Deidara frowned, now the sense of being watched crawled on his skin, making him want to shudder. He refrained himself and took a left, the opposite way he should have gone to his suite at the inn he was staying at. Walking down that street, he concentrated hard on detecting the masked chakra in the shadows. He found it keeping pace with him. Damn the brats, what did they want? Did they find out who he was? No, no, that was highly doubtful. He had made a fake name, occupation, and past for himself to be disguised in this village. But either way, he needed to lose them. If they were following then they had a damn good reason and was probably under the order of the Hokage herself. Sometimes, having a double life was so annoying.

_Yeah._

Deidara hid his hands in his coat and performed the hand signs necessary for a solid shadow clone. With in a matter of seconds the solid shadow clone of himself was what the two brats were following. Smirking, Deidara kept to the shadows and returned to the inn. Knowing he hardly had a lot of time before the brat suspected what he had done, he let six candles and chanted in an ancient language. The chant was faster than it should have been, but he had to hurry.

After three versus the evil presence in the room was so noticeable that it had the hair at the back of his neck standing on end. The leader was angry at being summoned. And he made no effort to hide it. Deidara dropped to one knee and bowed his head before the leader.

"What is it, now?" Pein asked, irritation in his tone. Deidara could feel the glare of the leader as his head faced the ground.

"The fox brat and the Uchiha have been following me, yeah. I fear for the plan, yeah," Deidara offered to the leader. Maybe then he wouldn't be so mad.

"What?" Pein asked, it was quiet, polite even, but the deadliest sound one should never have to hear. Well, Deidara's been wrong before. "How long?"

"Yeah, they followed me just tonight, but I'm sure they had a good reason for it, yeah," Deidara said, fast so he could get back before those damn punks knew it was trick.

"Are they under suspicion of you?" the question was asked quickly.

"Perhaps, yeah," Deidara replied at the same speed of the question. He heard the leader growl. Deidara dampened the urge to run far away from him.

"Damn it, why must you mess up?!" his voice wasn't raised, but it sent shivers down Deidara's spine and back up again. He had the impression that if the leader could have hit him and wasn't a hologram then he would have been screwed right now.

"Forgive me, yeah," Deidara requested. He didn't want to be on the leader's bad side. It was better for Pein to be an ally than an enemy.

"The deadline is moved up. If they're under the order of the Hokage, it's a serious problem. On Saturday at dusk is when you'll strike, not Tuesday. They won't expect it to be so soon," Pein demanded, taking all and giving nothing. Deidara smirked to hear that. Good, less of a wait.

"As you wish, yeah," Deidara quickly agreed, to save his own head and because he finally had the chance to take down one of the Five Great Nations. Yeah, life was sweet.

The leader disappeared as soon as he had come and Deidara hurriedly blew out the candles. He stashed them away and flew out the window to find his shadow clone. He sent it into the nightclubs of Konoha and still found the little punks tailing the clone. So they hadn't noticed.

What ninjas were Konoha really hiding in this city? When his clone took a right, the brats lost sight of the clone for a moment. That was all he needed and Deidara slipped back in and the clone disappeared. By the time that the Uchiha and the Fox saw him again, it was the real him with no clone smoke in sight.

To make a show of going down this street, Deidara went into a tiny restaurant and ordered a midnight meal to go. Once out on the street again, he hummed a little tune to himself and made his way to his inn. All the while silently laughing at two of the 'so claimed' best ninja Konoha had to offer. Maybe this would be easier than they all thought.

* * *

Sakura had left the hospital an hour ago. Coming home to no Sasuke, she sighed and went about doing the housework she detested. Now, she was at the sink, the water just done going down the drain and put her hands on the edge of the sink, bracing herself. All day today, Sasuke was on her mind. The ache in her thighs and in between her legs begged for his return.

All day they had reminded her of what she had done, what still wanted, and what she enjoyed. Even though it was slightly painful, the ache grew with each passing hour. Not only in her low body but in her chest. She missed him, the warmth, the glow and even his one syllable words. Through one night he had become a part of her, to never let go.

Damn, she was going soft.

There had been a time in her life when she forgot the name Uchiha, forgot what it meant to her, and she lived. At that time, she had killed more people than she had in the two previous years combined. But harsh reality crashed back down when she was reminded of what someone could mean to a person. Naruto had been in critical condition and her chakra refused to flow. Tsunade had said it was an emotional block. She was right, it was the suppression of her feelings toward Sasuke that kept her helping Tsunade save him. For that she had grown mad the damn Uchiha. Pissed off, even.

But she let go, with the help of Ino. After that he was always in the back of her mind. Just waiting to come alive. And then, she met him in the forest. She had been prepared to kill him then. Utterly glad that her body refused the order he mind had given. She could no more deny that she loved Sasuke than never breath again and stay alive.

Sakura developed a smile. Now she was living with him, talking to him, and loving him emotionally and physically. And with that thought, the throb at the apex of her thighs grew so much that she slouched a little. She wanted him now. He was addicting, like her drug and she just kept coming back for more.

Arms wrapped around her middle all of a sudden. She gasped and tried to tug away, but was pressed back against a solid chest. Sakura stopped struggling, know that it was Sasuke. She leaned back, resting her head on his chest. He was looking down at her, the darkness of his eyes dancing, smirk playing his lips. He knew he scared her, and that was his intent. Jerk.

"That's not nice, Sasuke. I could have had a heart attack," Sakura teased. Sasuke put his hand on her heart, right above her breast.

"You get scared to easily, Sakura," Sasuke commented, with his beautiful smirk never leaving his lovely face. Her heart was beating in rapid procession. First from being scared, then from his hands on her body. A touch addicting and well worth the effort to wait.

"Not always. Have fun with Naruto?" Sakura asked, turning in his arms. He rested his hands on her hips and pulled them pelvis to pelvis, thigh to thigh.

"About as much fun as you can have with him," Sasuke answered. His expression suddenly dampened. Sakura wondered at this.

"What is it?" she asked. Sasuke pulled himself away from her and leaned on the counter. Was it something she said? Did she do something?

"Me and Naruto think that the Akatsuki might be in the village planning an attack," Sasuke said, voice low, words fast. She heard them, but her brain wasn't processing them. They struck her dumb.

"What?" Sakura whispered. Her vocal cords hardly seemed to work. Her brain, after that moment of shock, started downloading the information, thinking of everything that could happen.

"We're not for sure," Sasuke assured her. He could see the wheels in her head turning. And knew that she was coming up with the worst case scenarios. Worse being Naruto dead. Hell, that'd be the worst for him, too, but he knew the dobe wouldn't die like that.

"But Naruto--," she started.

"Is with Hinata in the Hyuuga mansion because she's scared for him and won't even let him leave to go to the bathroom without scanning with the byakugan," Sasuke interrupted. This put a smile on her face and she giggled a little.

"Really?" she asked, close to laughing.

"Hn," he answered in his normal one syllable statement.

"Good, then he'll be alive for his engagement party," she said turning back to the sink and washing it out from the dishes that had left a ring around it.

"Which is when?" Sasuke sounded reluctant. He never liked parties. Even if they were confined to the old team seven. He was always dragged there by Naruto or her…or both.

"Saturday," she said slowly, not wanting him to take off and run away. Figuratively speaking.

"It's Tuesday," was Sasuke's blunt statement. She turned to him. Ignored the broad shoulders, the slight opening his shirt that didn't give her what she wanted, the heat that came off his body even from this far away, and oh, the list could go on and on. She swallowed hard, trying to think of what they were talking before.

"I know," she said shortly. Her voice was different. It was rougher, edgy.

"Who's going plan on such short notice?" he asked after a little pause where he seemed to think to himself.

"Me," Sakura said. She stared at his shirt, hoping she could burn a hole through it and he'd take it off so she didn't have too. It didn't work. Damn. She saw him swallow and followed the movement with her eyes. His neck looked so kissable. She almost groaned.

Sasuke closed the distance between them so suddenly. He couldn't stand watching her watching him and not do something. There was blood going to his groin, having him half erect from her just looking at him. Was there something wrong with him? One night with her and he was suddenly a normal functioning eighteen year old, with hormones that demanded some attention.

**Lemon Start**

He saw her eyes widen in surprise and didn't care. He took her mouth, bruising her lips, nipping them open. She didn't need much coaxing and she let him in. Her mouth was hot, sweet. He took in everything, from her fighting tongue to her taste. He pulled her closer, searing heat over came them, not allowing him to think. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling even closer.

Red came to his gaze as he suckled her neck, biting the tender flesh, hearing her moan his name. Suddenly it became too much and he had her shorts off and her legs pulled tightly around his waist. She grinding onto his hard length, bring his breathing to a halt for a second. He rocked back and she threw her head back in a groan.

There was ripping sound in the air and Sakura realized that Sasuke had just ripped her panties. She didn't mind and undid the button and zipper to his pants. She pulled it down and Sasuke set her on the counter. In a swift movement he impaled her, the walls of her squeezing him. She was wet enough that it didn't hurt, and Sasuke came out only slam right back down in her. She met him with equal enthusiasm, feeling his hot velvet texture that drove her insane.

He thrust over and over again, until she couldn't take it and squeezed him so hard that she cried his name and caused his own release as well. His come warmed her, fulfilling her to the point of satisfaction. She hung onto his shoulders while Sasuke leaned most of his weight on her. She, gladly accepted it. In the aftermath of bliss she felt him smile. Not a smirk, but a real smile. And she smiled with him.

**Lemon End**

Let's go upstairs," Sakura said, breathy. Her heart didn't slow down as he looked at her. The depth of his eyes, deepening.

"Though you'd never ask," he said, and charted her up the stairs two at a time.

* * *

**A/N: so it ends on a sweet note. That's a good thing, because some of the chapters coming up won't be all that sweet. So how did you that?**

**Review, the power of Christ compels you.**


	18. Party hard, just don't die

**A/N: Oh, it's been SUCH a long time, I know. But being me, I have no excuse, except for maybe school. Yeah, that's it. God, I hate math.**

**But anyway, how about some more of the story that you're dying to read. Lol.**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like a rich anime inventor? Oh, I can dream.**

****Note** this is a couple days after the last chapter. It's the night of the party.**

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"Maybe we should cancel the party," Hinata quietly said to Sakura in the courtyard behind the Hokage Tower. They were sitting on a picnic table with a white table cloth that had 'Congratulations' written at random points acrossed it. Sakura put down the drink she had in her hand.

"I want to, but I don't want the Akatsuki, if they're here, to get suspicious about us. I just want to get through tonight in one piece," she said. Her pink hair was held at the nape of her neck to keep it off her face as she set up for the party tonight. Hinata looked down at the table.

"Do you think it was a good idea to put Naruto on watch for those men they think may be part of the Akatsuki?" she asked. Sakura saw her hand clench the table cloth. She bit her lip, Hinata was so worried about Naruto. But then, she, herself, was worried about Sasuke…and Naruto. She knew he wouldn't let the Akatsuki get a hold of Naruto no matter what. But that was what worried her.

"No, but Tsunade told me that she tried to take Naruto off it. He refused. The stubborn little idiot," Sakura complained. She glared at the table, asking God why Naruto was so thick-headed.

"I asked him to quit, too. But said that he wasn't going to run from this," Hinata conceded. Sakura glared at the table harder. Of course, that was the excuse he gave Sakura when she told to quit two days ago. She stopped looking at the table and found Hinata's face.

The girl was red in the face. Not like she was blushing but just like she was hot. Her expression seemed troubled. Hinata's back was rigid, not straight like her usual posture. Sakura's brows came together. Was it her or did something not seem right with Hinata? She put a hand over Hinata's clenching one.

"Are you all right?" she asked. The Hyuuga raised her eyes to match Sakura's stare. She was trembling, much like she did when she was younger. A bright red flag was waved in Sakura's mind. Not good.

"I just have a bad feeling," Hinata finally said. She gripped the edge of the table. Sakura pressed her for more information.

"What kind of bad feeling, Hinata?" she said gently, wanting to get an answer. Hinata swallowed, but her grip on the table didn't loosen. It was like her life line or something.

"That something really bad is going to happen soon. I don't know when, but soon," Hinata whispered. Something inside Sakura's stomach seemed to drop. It was a second before she could speak. Sakura took Hinata's shoulder, made Hinata look into her eyes.

"Listen, this is just cold feet. It's the marriage thing that's scaring you. Go home, take a bath, relax, and breath slowly," Sakura added, seeing as Hinata was barely breathing. Maybe it was something, maybe it was nothing, but the feeling that Hinata had her feeling right now was starting to shake her composure. Hinata opened her mouth to protest. Sakura cut her off.

"If you feel that strongly, I'll put the guards at all the gates on high alert and snoop around all the inns to make sure there's nothing funny going on," Sakura compromised. She saw Hinata contemplating, but finally nod. Sakura grinned and pushed Hinata up. She left without a word. It must have been a pretty bad feeling.

Sakura swallowed. She looked at the courtyard. It was done, the only thing it needed was the band, the food, and the guests. The band wasn't supposed to show until 6: 30 tonight. The food would be here around seven and the guests would start to come at around 7:30. Sakura sighed, if there was a night that she wanted to see go off without a hitch, it was this one.

Reluctantly, she got up and pulled her hair loose. Then pumped a small amount of chakra in feet and jumped from roof to roof until she landed next to the south gate. The ninja there at the top looked down and nodded at her. She nodded back and went up to the little guard building on top of the gate. The ninja, looked to be a Chunin, in a seat watching, stood upon her sensing her presence.

"I need you tighten security around the perimeter of the village," Sakura informed the guard. He looked at her in wonderment, but knew she meant business and gave the order. She nodded in thanks and walked on top of the stone wall. She just looked out beyond the village, trying to sense danger. She got nothing except something catching her foot, making her fall on her face.

She turned around to yell at the careless dumbass, until she caught sight of the black belly shirt and sketch book. Fired up, she grabbed Sai by the collar.

"What the hell are you doing just laying there like an idiot?" she yelled. Sai wasn't intimated but that wasn't unusual, he just looked at her with a blank face.

"I'm hiding," he said simply, like that explained it all. Sakura pursed her lips to keep from sweat-dropping anime style. Did this guy not know how to communicate after three years out of ANBU?

"From what?" Sakura asked, she let go his collar.

"From that Pig," Sai replied, looking over his shoulder. _Pig?_, Sakura thought. _Ino!_

"Did you call her ugly, again? Sai, I thought you were censoring your thoughts," Sakura asked, exasperated. Sai just shrugged.

"I guess that could be the nice version of what I said," he admitted. Sakura gave up, he was never going to learn. "Why are you here?"

"Huh? Oh. I'm here because Hinata was worried about the Akatsuki. I told her I'd tighten security," Sakura told him. He just looked at her. No expression, no glint in his eyes, nothing. It was unnerving.

"She should be worried," Sai told her. Sakura make an unintelligible sound. He looked at her strange. "What? You can't feel it?"

Sakura shook her head. "Feel what?" she asked.

Sai gave a pity face. "The sense of dread," he answered. There was no music cue, no ominous tone in his voice. He just said like he was saying it was hot outside. Which it wasn't since it was four in the afternoon at the end of August.

"Well, yeah, but I don't know where," Sakura said, looking slightly put out. Hinata and Sai knew what was going on before she did. Nice ninja she was.

"In the village. Where else would it be? The threat for the village is on the inside," Sai told her sitting up to look at the village. She looked at Sai, starting to get what he was saying. It was clicking.

"They want to destroy us from the inside out. Make it easy for them, slaughter for us," Sakura picked up. Sai nodded.

"I see Tsunade was hiding the worst from you," he told her, turning back around. The statement instantly pissed her off. Tsunade was hiding stuff from her? What the hell?!

"What!? Why would she do that? I don't need it sugarcoated, I'm almost ANBU," she declared, gripping his shirt again, shaking him a little. Sai started looking a little bored. At least it was better than the fake smile he wore. He pried off her hands.

"Why should I care? Bye, Hag," with that he jumped to a near by roof and sprinted off in the opposite direction. Sakura tilted her head, looking after him. What the hell was with the blow off? Hearing profanity, Sakura looked down to see Ino stomping through the street. Oh, that explains it.

She jumped off the wall and went in the direction of the Hokage Tower. There was something Sakura obviously hadn't made clear while she worked with Tsunade.

* * *

Tsunade sat at her desk, reviewing the performance of academy students. At least, that's what it looked like. And that's all that she cared about. She was really looking through Rock Country's records on Deidara. So far, she found nothing. It's not like Rock and Fire were allies but you'd at least think she'd be able to steal some kind of information.

She was interrupted when Sakura busted in her office. Tsunade jolted up, looking at the angry face of her apprentice. This was a change. Sakura had been relatively happy since Sasuke's return to the village. The young woman shut the door with a slam and came forward to put her hands on top of Tsunade's desk.

"What aren't you telling me?" she demanded. Tsunade raised her eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?" Tsunade asked, leaning back in her chair. Sakura's expression hardened.

"I know that you're keeping things from me. What do you know that I don't?" she elaborated. Okay, so Sakura had a reason to be pissed. Tsunade hadn't really told her much. Just that an Akatsuki member might have infiltrated the village. But at the time, that was all she wanted Sakura to know. For all Tsunade knew, Sakura could be the next victim and they could torture her into saying anything because they knew she was the Hokage's apprentice.

"Sakura, this is on a need to know basis," she told her gently. Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"As in I don't need to know?" she asked. Tsunade shook her head.

"As in I don't want you to know," she corrected. Sakura folded her arms acrossed her chest.

"Why the hell not? I'm not a little girl, I can handle it," she insisted.

"Did I ever say you couldn't handle it?" Tsunade asked, sharper than she intended. Sakura was taken aback and stuttered. Tsunade went on, "If I don't want you to know something, then I have a damn good reason. It's not because I think you can't handle it, it's because I don't want the information I have to get into the wrong the hands."

"You think I'll tell," Sakura sounded resigned.

"I think you'll get targeted by the kidnappers because you're my apprentice," Tsunade cleared up.

"So I can't know because I'm a medic and all medics are at risk," Sakura realized. But just because she realized it, didn't mean she liked it.

"Yes, torture does amazing things to the human mind. I don't even have to tell you all of them," Tsunade said. Sakura did know that torture did do amazing things to one's mind, Tsunade had her tested on it a few years back.

"I don't like it," Sakura finally said. Tsunade nodded her understanding.

"I don't either, but until I know for sure what's going on and when the battle is going to happen every medic, including you and Hinata, will be out of the loop," Tsunade told her. "As a safety precaution for Konoha. I'm sorry."

Sakura's eyes widened as she remembered Hinata's bad feeling. "Tsunade, Hinata said that she had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen soon," Sakura told her. Tsunade folded her hands in front of her face.

"It's probably just cold feet," Tsunade wrote off.

"I know, I told her that. But I can't help the feeling that she's right," Sakura confided. "It's just an instinct, but I've learned to trust my instincts."

"I know, Sakura," Tsunade said, glancing down. She needed an excuse to get her out of here. Sakura could easily see through the genjutsu on these papers if she looked. "Oh, do you think you can pick the afternoon shift at the hospital? We're running low on medics there."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. But the band is coming at _6:30 _tonight and the food is coming a half hour later. Have someone there to smooth things over," Sakura instructed. Tsunade nodded and Sakura took that as cue to leave.

The door closed and Tsunade looked back down at genjutsu covering the papers. Had Sakura seen through it? Tsunade knew how well Sakura's eyes were adjusted to see genjutsu but she hoped not. Tsunade ignored it and went back to seeing if there was information that could help. Where was Shizune? She needed at drink, badly.

* * *

Deidara had in his ear piece that connected him to the rest of the Akatsuki. He was sitting on the roof of the inn trying to ignore Tobi's annoying rambling. But the guy kept going on and on about how fun this was going to be. Granted it was going to be fun, but Tobi was ruining it.

"Would you shut up, yeah?!" Deidara complained. The line instantly went silent. Deidara wondered why Pein hadn't told him to shut up. Tsh, he probably didn't even have on the damn microphone. Just like him.

He heard a small chuckle on one end. He instantly knew Zetsu found this highly amusing. Deidara grinded his teeth. He was not a damn side show. It would be more entertaining if Zetsu would talk to himself. That he could laugh at.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement. Discreetly looking over he saw a speck of orange. Deidara's previous annoyance melted as he went on alert. Wasn't that brat supposed to be getting ready for some party or something? Then his thoughts went to the boy's choice of fashion. Orange. Bright, stupid, and obvious. And this guy was up to be Hokage? Were they slumming it?

"Deidara, something smells good on your end," he heard Zetsu from the microphone that was placed in his ear.

"You have a taste for the Kyuubi brat, yeah?" Deidara semi-teased, but quietly, his lips barely moved. The black side of Zetsu snickered.

"I'm partial to foxes now a days," Zetsu grinned. Deidara could hear it through the mic. He made a show of looking to the sky and grinning, when he really wanted to just blow something all to hell. But he resisted the temptation.

"Tobi want to go now," the annoying voice of Tobi put a real frown on Deidara's mouth. He was just so whiney to fight. If the leader hadn't told him that they were partners, Deidara would have blown Tobi away by now.

"Tobi, contain yourself," the smooth womanly voice of Konan drifted through to Deidara's ears. "Deidara, why are you out in the open while being watched?"

"Just enjoying Konoha before we destroy it, yeah," he easily replied back, no lip movement whatsoever. Deidara then saw a dark blur that was making a beeline for the orange.

"Uchiha," Tobi's voice echoed in his ears. Uchiha, indeed. The one shacking it up with the pink-haired medic. Deidara hoped she was working today. It would such beauty to see her limbs get ripped up as she met one if his bombs. The thought made him smile. A moment later two barely- there blurs took off in another direction. They had somewhere to be.

"Go scout the hospital for a way to get in and out fast. The sun is setting, we have one hour until we invade," Konan ordered. Deidara got up gracefully and took off down the latter to make himself seem normal and went in the direction of the hospital.

"You want me to take out some guards, too, yeah?" he asked on the sarcastic side. All this walking was so slow pace, it was getting boring. How did civilians stand it?

"No, leave them us," Zetsu came through. The dark way he said it tugged at the corners of Deidara's mouth.

"Spare them pain, at least," Zetsu's white side put in a comment. Not that Zetsu would abide by it.

"Shut up," was his response to the white part of himself. Now, listening to someone argue with themselves, that was entertainment. See, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity.

* * *

"Why does this stupid party have to be formal?" Naruto complained as he tied the cummerbund around his waist. This penguin suit was itchy. And it had no color.

"Stop complaining," Sasuke droned. He turned to Naruto and tied the bow tie that was around his neck without looking in a mirror. "You were excited before."

"Yeah, but I thought it was going to be a fun party. Hey, how'd you do that?" Naruto looked in the mirror at himself and tried to make heads or tails of this thing around his neck. Sasuke walked up to him and tied it in less then ten seconds.

"It's easy," Sasuke said as Naruto looked at the finished product. He just shrugged.

"Where's Sakura?" he asked, poking the bow tied with apprehension. He was _soooo_ not used to this.

"She's doing the afternoon shift. She'll get off at 7:30 and meet us at the party late," Sasuke told him as he sat on Naruto's couch. His apartment hadn't changed. There were still instant ramen cups, dirty dishes, and dirty clothes that needed to go in the hamper. Naruto had been tracking that one guy with him so Sasuke understood why his apartment looked this.

"Why?" Naruto didn't like the sound of that. The Akatsuki were running around. And he didn't know where. Sakura should have been at her house getting ready, not near the line of fire. It made Naruto uneasy. He swallowed down his complaint to Granny Tsunade and listened to Sasuke.

"They're low staffed," was all the explanation he got. Naruto looked the mirror, seeing Sasuke on the couch. Studying the boy, Naruto could tell Sasuke didn't like it either. Nothing in Sasuke's tone or posture gave it away, but Naruto could just tell that he wasn't happy about it.

"Let's go," Sasuke told him, rising from the couch. Naruto turned around and cocked his head.

"I have to go get Hinata," Naruto said. Sasuke sighed, he knew this would happen.

"Hinata's father will take her. You'll meet her at the party," Sasuke told him. Better it come from him than have Naruto walk through the Hyuuga mansion looking like an idiot. But considering that he did that on his own, Sasuke doubted if Naruto could contain himself for this event.

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, leaning against a counter.

"It's a tradition in old families," Sasuke shortly explained.

"Oh." He closed his eyes, thinking. Then came to the conclusion that it seemed kind of stupid to do that. But Naruto wasn't from an old family, so every custom Hinata knew, he didn't.

"Come on, you dobe," Sasuke demanded, walking to the front door. He wanted to get to the damn party and see Sakura there and touch her so he knew he wasn't dreaming. That and if he could get Naruto's mind off the different social classes of him and Hinata, then the night would go smoother.

"Stupid, teme, don't order me around," Naruto retorted. Sasuke smirked as he left the living room onto the street. Sometimes Naruto had such a simple mind. He had a one-tracked mind, getting him off one thought and on to another was something that was worth perfecting. Sasuke walked down the road, Naruto caught up to him after he locked the apartment door.

"I wonder who else was invited," Naruto wondered out loud. Sasuke shrugged, not knowing or answering. It was sunset outside, all the families were in their house, eating supper or watching TV. Others were at the party already, which left the streets almost bare as Naruto and Sasuke walked to the Hokage Tower.

A flicker of something suddenly caught Sasuke's radar. It caught Naruto's, too, because they both looked back behind them at the same time. They shared a meaningful glance, knowing they were being followed. Something close to excitement ripped through Sasuke's veins. He couldn't help but anticipate a good fight. They continued to walk.

His palms grew sweaty in anticipation as he felt the flicker again. Sasuke barely breathed so he could hear a rustle or crack of some sort to tell him where his enemy was. There was nothing, not even Naruto's breathing. The eagerness for a fight was waving off both ninja as they walked at a purposely composed pace.

The flicker started again, longer this time, but not long enough to where Sasuke or Naruto could pinpoint it. Sasuke felt his stomach knot up. The waiting was killing him. Being out in the open and vulnerable to an attack while being stalked was pushing Sasuke's nerves. He was used to being the one doing the stalking, used to being the predator, and liked it. But now, he was the prey and wondering when the attack was going to take place. He didn't like it.

But no attack came. Naruto and Sasuke rounded the corner to see the Hokage Tower looming over them, blocking the sunset. The flicker didn't spark again as Naruto and Sasuke walked into the lobby of the tower. Obviously, the stalker wasn't risking it all to come in here. Sasuke let out his breath the same time Naruto did. Good thing they were on the same page.

"Do you recognize it?" Naruto asked as they walked toward the back door of the brightly lit lobby.

"No," Sasuke answered. They neared the door when Naruto looked behind them.

"Damn," he said as if hoping to see the stalker. Sasuke put his hand on the sliding door.

"Tell Tsunade later. She'll want know," he said. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah." With that, Sasuke pulled the door open to see that the party was in full swing. The band was playing on three foot raising platform with lights strung above them. Those lights strung above everything and everyone. It was bright enough to see but blinding as the lobby had been. The dance floor was a soft wood with the surrounding tables white. That was because of the table cloth. The trees around the courtyard, along with the flowers, gave the whole thing a perfect feel.

Sasuke looked from the million designs of dresses and tuxedos to see Tsunade at one table with Jiraiya and a sake bottle in hand. That wasn't surprising, neither was the fact that they hadn't dress up. Sasuke saw no Shizune, but seconds later spotted her dancing on the floor with Gai-sensei. Poor girl.

The Hyuuga's were over at one table, but when Hinata spotted Naruto she jumped up and made a beeline to him. Her dress was pretty. Pale blue, off the shoulders, to the floor, with white gloves. Her hair had been pinned up so only little pieces escaped.

She smiled and Naruto brought her close to him. "Where's Sakura? She should be here," Hinata asked. Sakura did plan most of this after all.

"She's at the hospital. Don't worry, she'll be here," Naruto reassured her. Sasuke, trying not to look troubled walked over to the three tables put together at one of the courtyard where the food was on. He heard Naruto make an abrupt sound at his sudden departure, but he didn't look back. He just didn't want to talk about Sakura. Kakashi was over there, so that made it a little better.

Sasuke leaned against it as Tsunade spotted Naruto. She grumbled a little bit and stood up. He had to give her credit, she didn't wobble as she cut the band off. They stopped playing immediately. She took the microphone and turned to the crowd to address them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming out tonight," she started.

* * *

Sakura had just signed her name on the dotted line. She put the pen down and cracked her fingers. Paperwork could kill somebody, but it had to be done. Sakura stood and took the file acrossed the room and put it back in order where it belonged. She stretched her back and yawned. It was almost past sundown, what time was it?

The clock over her office door showed _7:35_. Damn. She was late.

Quickly she took off her white coat and hung it on a peg and opened her door. She took the keys out of her coat pocket and shut the door, then turned the lock. The lights blazed her eyes, but she didn't see any people. That was some what odd, but she ignored it. Every patient had been secretly evacuated or was resting in his or her room.

Sakura took down her pink hair letting it brush her shoulders. She didn't have time to waste, so she went down to the end of the hall. She had to tell her friend, Kima, that she was going to leave. Kima was only a little bit older than her, with brown hair and deep, dark green eyes. Sakura hummed to herself, hoping to distract herself from the sudden silence. The door was closed when she got there.

That wasn't normal. Neither was the sudden sense of apprehension and dread. Sakura didn't want to open the door. She knew she wouldn't like what she saw. Her chest constricted, the way it did when she was scared. There was something not right on the other side of that door. She wasn't a coward, so swallowing, Sakura took hold of the door knob. Ignoring her shaking hand, she pushed the door open. The sight that greeted her had her reeling.

On the floor, black liquid matted every surface inch. It ran down the walls and the window. The lights had been turned off, but Sakura could see the pale hand of Kima. That hand went to an arm and then a shoulder, all in a pool of dark liquid. All in blood. Once Sakura saw the glazed over eyes and red gash that opened her throat, she knew there was no saving her friend. Sakura's breath caught in her throat, but she didn't take a step back. Her eyes just stayed wide.

She scanned the area for possible killer chakras. Her scan wasn't even complete before a shadow moved into her line of vision. The dying light from the window offered enough light to make out who the shadow was. Hoping for the pony tailed person to be Ino with a good explanation, she wasn't really disappointed when she saw that it was Deidara. Sakura felt her heart stop, then pound double what it already did.

"Hello. I hope you didn't know her, yeah," he said with a sadistic smile on his face. Sakura stilled. She couldn't take Deidara on in the hospital, not with patients here. Breathing hard, Sakura backed away. She was shaking, damn it. He took a step forward, she ran. Sakura ran down the hall, down the three flights of stairs and into the main lobby.

She stopped, she needed to go out a side way, but she didn't move. The lobby had no lights, and Sakura knew it wasn't from a power outage. There was no chatter from the front desk nurses. Starring hard at the front desk, Sakura couldn't tell if they were there. She knew, without a doubt, that they were dead. But she hoped that she was wrong. Taking the small amount of steps required to see over the desk, she saw the black liquid and two bodies face down on the desk, not moving.

Every breath Sakura dragged in hurt now. She wanted, no, _needed_ to get out of here. If they were dead, then she would probably be right to assume that everyone in the hospital was dead or fatally injured and dead now. Sakura took off down the hall and rammed a side door open. It fell off its hinges but Sakura didn't pay attention. Sakura took to the roof, going for the Hokage Tower. Tsunade had to know. The attack was here, now. But as soon as that thought struck her, so did another.

_Naruto._

She was going to lead them straight to Naruto. The one thing they freaking came here for. She couldn't do that. Looking back behind her, Sakura saw Deidara following, smiling and running with ease. Shit, go the other way!

Sakura changed direction, leading them away from Naruto and to the east. The farthest point she could get. She felt Deidara hot on her trail as she ran down to the East Gate. It didn't take long with her speed, but there were no guards, she saw, as she came closer. Sakura silently prayed they hadn't been killed. But as she jumped on the top, dead bodies lined up like animals to the slaughter. She tried to ignore them and made her way to the bell, that was to ring when there was trouble.

But Deidara suddenly stood in between her and that bell. He smiled, while she just gritted her teeth. This was not how she pictured tonight.

* * *

**A/N: yeah, I have to stop. You know you've been writing too long when the computer looks like it's moving. But I'll clarify who's at the party, since I didn't really tell you much.**

**The rookie nine, Neji, Hiashi and the head council member, Iruka, Sai, Lee, Tenten, Kuranai, and random Konoha council members, almost every Jonin.**

**Yeah, well, leave a review while I rest my eyes. I think my computer screen is doing the electric slide. Oh, crap.**


	19. Under Attack, FIGHT

**A/N: Long time, no see, guys. How was you're holiday? Mine was good. I couldn't get on the computer because my sister put a weight bench in front of it, but it was good and the electric went out for three days. Oh and don't blame me for getting the Akatsuki OOC. I've only read a little bit of them in the manga and I looked up some of what they can do online. If you have anything else that will help, tell me.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it wouldn't be as good as it is today.**

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* * *

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This was not good. The smell of blood hit Sakura's nostrils as she panted. The adrenaline was intoxicating her, made her antsy to move. To kill. But she fought the survival instinct and tried to think of a plan. Her strategies weren't as good as Shikamaru's but they were passable. One flaw, the only thing she knew about Deidara was that he blew things up. Did she mention this was not good?

Before Sakura could make a move Deidara opened his hand, showing the fly trap like thing on his palm. Sakura's eyes widened as she suppressed the bile that rose from her throat. That was disgusting. This was the edge of battle and the air was tense. So tense that Sakura was so stiff that it hurt to move. The power this guy was expressing hit her like poison. As Deidara turned his hand palm up every little sound went quiet. Sakura didn't know if that was an effect of the rush of adrenaline she was getting or if even the Earth, itself, was waiting for the attack.

In the palm of his hand came a little ball of clay. The size of a large bouncy ball. Sakura's eyes narrowed. What could this guy do with a clay ball? She found out as he tossed it in her direction. It rolled until it was at her feet. Looking up from the ball, she studied Deidara. What the hell? He was laughing to himself. It was then that she smelt something that burned her throat. Smoke. Snapping her head back to the ball, Sakura saw it emit white vapor that had a dangerous aura to it. Her muscles jerked as she realized it was a bomb and she leap backward just as it detonated.

Landing a safe distance, Sakura tried to see through the smoke. It wasn't possible. This was were the Byakugan would come in handy. Then all thought fled from her mind as she detected movement from behind and turned on spot to see dangerously gleaming metal. The swipe came up to slash a diagonal line, but she dodged it taking out her own knife and stopped a second horizontal swing.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed. Deidara smiled a polite little smile.

"Don't you already know, yeah? What with people following me around, you ought to know something, yeah," he mocked. Sakura was not in the mood. She took away her knife and spun a chakra enhanced kick to Deidara's ribs. He stepped back just in time to avoid it, but she ran for the bell instead of pursuing him. The village had to know that the Akatsuki was here. That desperate thought motivated her like nothing else could have.

But it was stupid to turn her back on an Akatsuki member. There was a ripping pain in her upper arm, then something warm and wet traveled down her skin. Sakura didn't suppress the moan of pain as she tore the knife from her body and turned around. Somehow, she knew that Deidara would be there, right in front of her. And he was.

The punch he threw her was caught by her good hand. Using her weight to get him off balance, she fell on her back to the ground taking him with her. Then before she could land on the ground with him on top of her, she lifted her leg as her back hit the ground and threw him over her with his own force. Deidara's back slammed right into the bell as he fell on his head, the bell ringing in Sakura's ears.

But Deidara ignored the bell, and got back up wiping blood from his lip, glaring at her. Sakura let the kunai knife fall to ground and then hurriedly brought out her gloves and put them on her hands. She had no time to feel triumph that she managed to sound alarm. She widened her stance and put her fists in front of her. He paid her movements no attention and came at her with a speed that was a little slower than Lee's.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming out tonight," Tsunade began. Every one in the courtyard had their eyes peeled to hers. Everyone except Sasuke. "I'd like to congratulate the happy couple on finally getting engaged."

The crowd clapped and smiled politely. Everyone had been waiting for Naruto to realize that Hinata had feelings for him. Most of the people here had, at one point or another, tried to help Naruto figure it out without actually spelling it out and shoving it under his nose. Naruto blushed a little but to sooth him Hinata leaned into his embrace. He held her tighter.

"I remember a kid who was so clueless that he didn't even know what he was looking at, always ranting on about being Hokage but I'm glad now that you two are happy and together. That being said, there is another reason to this gathering tonight," Tsunade confessed. The attention, which had been slightly interested before, seemed to spike. The ninja thinking that this could be bad or good news. "I will not be Hokage forever, as everyone knows. There is a time when one should step down from the title. It's time I named my successor."

The energy of the courtyard tensened. There was not one person who did not have their ears intently listening as the Lady Hokage paused to breath, if not to just add suspense. Hinata felt Naruto stiffen. He was rigid, like a coil just waiting to spring. In his stomach, Naruto felt queasy. This was what he had wanted for so long. It was his dream. The thing that kept him hanging on. To be Hokage, that was what he wanted. Now, it seemed like a reality instead of dream. It was so close that it was within reach.

"I'm glad that I had the chance to pick someone so enthusiastic if not a little too enthusiastic. He's always going on and on about his dream and hasn't yet made it a reality, but Naruto, you're dream is reality, soon, you'll be the sixth Hokage," Tsunade finished with a smile. The crowd erupted in immediate applause. Not a polite applause, it was full of energy and laughter. Naruto himself was staring at Tsunade, his expression so stunned that his mouth was a little open and his eyes were wide. She just smiled at him and his face involuntarily took the form of a smile. Hinata gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and he smiled down at her then fully kissed her lips.

He lifted his head and looked to see Kakashi, his visible eye crinkling at the corner still applauding. His gaze then found Sasuke. His friend smirked at him and Naruto could easily see the sentence written on his face. _It took long enough, maybe you won't rant about it so much now._ Sarcastic from Sasuke but he cared, Naruto knew it, and it wasn't because Sasuke was applauding a little louder than everyone else. Naruto could just tell that Sasuke was happy for him. Sai caught his gaze just then. This smile wasn't fake, but the clapping was polite, as if he didn't know what he was feeling.

Then, instinctively, he looked for pink. It would pop out anywhere, but he didn't see Sakura. That gave him a start, she was supposed to be here. It didn't take that long to put on a dress and run over. Naruto wanted to share it with Sakura, the happiness he felt. The fulfillment.

But she was no where to be seen. Not by Sasuke, or in the back with Sai, or by Tsunade. She would be the one cheering for him the loudest. The one saying 'Yeah, Naruto' but she wasn't there. It felt strange and he knew that something was wrong. Very wrong. It settled in his stomach like bugs swarmed around Shino.

Sasuke knew it too. He caught Sasuke's eye and they read each other's expressions. Naruto and Sasuke looked to Kakashi, dread pulling Naruto's stomach. Kakashi understood their look completely, but what to do about it he wasn't sure.

"Where's Sakura?" Hinata asked. She looked around but didn't see her. The strain in her voice was obvious, she was worried about Sakura. Naruto's hand tighten on her waist.

"I don't know," he hated to respond like that but there was nothing else he could say. He felt blind, and realizing that his heart beat in his ears like drum, his palms started to sweat and his chakra flared subconsciously. Hinata's hand bunched up her dress, trying to relieve some stress.

Naruto saw Sasuke vigorously strut acrossed the courtyard and to the back door of the Hokage Tower. As much as Naruto wanted to go, he needed to be here. If Naruto could trust anyone with Sakura it was Sasuke. He'd find her, no matter what.

* * *

This wasn't right, it wasn't like her. She'd be there by now if nothing had happened. She wanted to see Naruto get named Hokage, she told him so. She wanted to see Naruto realize his dream, so where the hell could she be? Sasuke's thoughts jumbled together. One thought forming and not even having time to take shape before another overrode it and started to form. He was starting to panic, he knew it but that didn't make him calm down anymore. He slammed the door to the tower with more force than needed and he heard it crack. That did nothing to relieve the emotions that coursed through him now.

He didn't give a fuck. He wanted Sakura. He needed to touch her, to feel her skin, to hear her heartbeat. If he didn't he would go insane. The Akatsuki could have came tonight, they could have killed her already and have been done with it. They could have… No, she'd have put up a fight. He would have heard the noise of their fight. She wouldn't just lay down and give up to death. She wouldn't fight so silently.

Sasuke fought to keep his face from showing the fear, the agitation, the worry, he felt for her. He fought to keep his breath at a normal pace even though he was losing. His chest rose and fell in rapid succession. He knew his face showed all his emotions, but all that didn't matter right now. Not one single thing.

The only thing he wanted was to find Sakura in her office cursing the interns and filling out documents and prescriptions. But the voice inside his head told him otherwise. His instincts told him that he was wrong to hope and as he rounded the corner on the hospital his heart squeezed in fear so much it hurt.

The smell reeked of death, of blood. A normal civilian couldn't tell, but he was a ninja and fifty feet from the front door he knew that this was wrong. There were no lights on, not in the offices on the third or second floor or the lobby of the front door. It had an under current that sent shivers up the spine.

Sasuke had spent three years with Orochimaru, he knew what this was, he knew the reek of it. Everyone inside was dead or dying. Sasuke had lived in this environment for years, he had thrived in it. He didn't like it, but he was good at detecting it.

He knew not to go in, that Sakura wasn't there. Sasuke turned away and stuck to the shadows of the road. Damn it. Where? Suddenly, Sasuke felt this feeling fall on him. The air was still, so still that it was almost suffocating. There was not a sound to the night, no crickets, or anything. Suddenly bile rose in his throat, he was facing a massacre. The feeling that fell on him had him activating his sharingan on instinct. It was the same feeling that he had when he looked at the hospital.

A loud gong sound erupted the silence. His reaction took less than a second. His honed senses had him running to the East Gate, where the echo of the bell that sounded still broke the night. His feet moved faster than they even had, his mind not really giving a thought to what his feet seemed to know so well.

Sasuke's mind didn't comprehend what his body was doing and didn't personally care. But one thought ran through his mind._ Don't be too late._

* * *

Sakura panted as she stepped back from lack of balance. That would be from lack chakra which was drained by Deidara. Or more defending herself from him. She had gone up against Akatsuki but only one and she had the help of Chiyo. As she eyed Deidara, Sakura inwardly checked her chakra level. She swallowed. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst.

What she needed to know was where the hell was everybody? Granted that it had only been about ten minutes since she rang the bell, she still expected something. But no, it was her and Deidara, the bastard that was aiming for her vitals with his damn little bombs. However they weren't little anymore, the one's when he showed up were little, not these one's now that she raised an alarm.

Right on the spot Deidara started to spin, while spinning he threw bombs. Three aimed for her vitals but the others were just for show. She could tell by the lack of chakra in them that they were duds. He obviously hoped to confuse her, but even though her mind was starting to drag she wasn't fooled. Before the bombs were anywhere near her she took the cold metal of three kunais and watched as they hit dead target on all three bombs.

Those bombs fell to the ground with a thud and Sakura thought she beat it, the duds landing two feet from her. But the duds weren't duds. They were dormant. Before they detonated Sakura saw the little spark of chakra then all she saw was pain. The bombs burned like acid on her arms and hands, two others ripped the flesh of her legs and her eyes burned. The force pushed her back and she flew acrossed the top of the gate and tumbled on the wooden walkway top of the gate.

Sakura's eyes watered and she immediately tried to push herself up but the throb in her arms was intense. So intense that she gritted her teeth to stop from crying out in pain. She flopped back onto the ground and lay still, internal healing one of her arms enough to get one good fatal shot.

_Don't lose like this, don't lose like this. Don't lose like this!_ She screamed at herself.

The footsteps behind her gave her a chill but she suppressed it and once she was done with her arms, she brought chakra to her fingers. Skillfully she shaped the chakra to the point of a knife on each finger.

When the footsteps stopped they were at least three feet from her, she gave it a second. One deep breath and she launched herself at the Akatsuki member. The surprised look on his face was enough of a reward but Sakura reached him with her chakra enhanced hand. The chakra was so sharp it cut through his flesh, digging the muscle through and broke the bone easily. Her five fingers were in his chest, it was a damn shame that she couldn't have gotten closer to his heart. She needed to work on her aim in clouded conditions after this was over. She refused to think of the 'if' possibility.

Deidara coughed up blood and it dribbled down his chin, for a moment Sakura thought she won, but the body in front of her turned to a mushy clay. Shocked, Sakura reached out, sensing, not wanting to be caught off guard. Deidara was going to die for attacking her village, for all the medics and patients that he killed tonight. She wasn't going to sit by and watch as the Akatsuki destroyed the village. _There!_ she thought.

Turning on the spot, Sakura gave her arm momentum and slammed her fist into the top of the gate, not caring that it was going to be demolished. Deidara had been right under her in an earth style jutsu. The cracking of wood and cement descended on her ears as she heard some serious bones cracking. The cry of pain was gratifying. But the landslide of the crushed rubble took Deidara and his crushed bones to ground level with the village. It took her too.

Sakura lost her balance and by the time the land slide was over she ended up stopping on her stomach atop the remains of the gate. Beside her, she heard the movement of wood and swears so heavy that even she wouldn't say them. Sakura struggled to get to her feet but wobbly managed it. Once standing, she saw Deidara glaring at her from where he stood on top of the ruins holding his left arm, which she could see was broken.

"You're going to pay for that, yeah," he said, one eye closed to the pain while blood dripped from where the bone had broken the skin. She glared right back.

"You're the only one going to pay," she icily told him. Sakura leaped into the air and drew chakra to her fist. Deidara followed her movements and, knowing that he couldn't take the punch, he slipped by her attack by inches as her fist collided with the wreckage of the gate.

She straightened up only to see a black flash and agony fly through her stomach. The cold metal became warmed by her blood as it streamed down over the knife and the hand connected to it.

"Told you, yeah," Deidara smiled at her, but it was cold, like he was going to kill her at any given moment. Like Sai's fake smiles.

"Why are you attacking now? After all this time. You could have had us six years ago after Orochimaru's first attack," Sakura whispered hoarsely. Back then would have been a great time to strike at the village, with no Hokage and so many lives lost. She coughed up a little blood, the taste disgusting her tongue.

"Because, back then, yeah, we didn't have Tobi, or the preparation we needed," Deidara whispered murderously in her ear. It was like one of those _I'll-tell-you-but-then-I'll-have-to-kill-you _kind of things. Tobi? Who was Tobi? Was he so important that the Akatsuki waited on world domination for one guy? But the tone of his voice clenched her stomach in dread. The Akatsuki, the most powerful crime organization in the world, was waiting for one man. She knew what the preparation was that they needed, though. That had already been explained when Gaara was kidnapped.

"Tobi?" she asked. Deidara pushed the knife in a bit more and Sakura suppressed a whimper. The searing fire was familiar to her stomach.

"The one with a swirl mask, yeah. Another name for him, yeah, could be Madara Uchiha," Deidara seriously told her. She didn't fake a look of surprise. That's not possible. It just wasn't, he was dead. Long dead.

"Lair, Madara Uchiha was one of the founders of Konoha, he's been dead for a long time," she spat at him. Madara Uchiha lived over eighty years ago, he couldn't be alive. He'd have to be over one hundred years old. He was alive with Tsunade's grandfather. It just wasn't possible for him to live this long. Even if he had, he'd be some old frail man by now. He couldn't be capable of much of anything.

"He's alive, yeah, and after the little Uchiha brat, too, yeah. If the little brat won't join Madara, then he'll just have to kill him, yeah," Deidara said like it was the most basic thing in the world.

_What?! _They were here, not only for Naruto, but also so that they could kill Sasuke. Two great ninja to the Leaf village and one is the next Hokage along with having the seal of the Nine-Tailed Fox. The other was under Orochimaru for three years, God only knew what the Akatsuki could do if they got Sasuke's body. So many forbidden jutsu that the Snake must have taught him could aid the Akatsuki for the defeat of Suna.

_No! _The desperation of the fight hit Sakura all at once. If she lost they could really take over the world. Earlier it didn't seem so real, but now she was fighting against it. If she lost…No. Sakura wouldn't allow it. After Leaf, they'd hit Suna, then Stone, Cloud, and Mist until they really did dominate the world. Sakura's heart beat that much harder, she couldn't let that happen. Sakura's hand went up and gripped Deidara's wrist. This bastard was going to die. This had to end. Soon. No matter what happened. Even if she had to take them both to hell.

She squeezed his wrist so fast and hard that he barely registered what happened to it until it snapped. He didn't let any outward sign say that he was in pain and that annoyed her. He just narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. She wanted to him to know pain, the pain of what would come his way if he kept going. Suddenly a bomb formed over the handle of the kunai as Deidara tore his wrist away and leapt back.

Frantic, Sakura pulled the knife out and tossed it away from her as she held her stomach and ran. The blast hit her back and she held her hands over her head as she went down on the ground, belly first. The pain renewed with every step and stumble she took. It grew like fire and sizzled over her stomach and arms. It made her want to puke and her eyes watered again.

Standing up fast, Sakura looked over and around to see anything, ignoring the protest her body made. Nothing for a moment, but then a sharp movement caught her eye and she ran at it. The smoke burned her eyes and lungs but she paid them no mind as she had her eyes locked dead ahead of her, intent to kill. Deidara was moving so fast but she was faster and appeared before him. He stopped long enough to glare before she gave a hard kick to his chest. The impact sent him crashing into a building. Sakura put a hand to her stomach again, fighting pain and nauseas.

The smoke was moved away by the wind as she broke out of it to stand in front of Deidara. He sat in the wall of the building, his head bend down like he was sleeping. Sakura panted and felt sweat run over her face as she approached cautiously, not knowing it he was alive or dead or knocked out.

Her knees were weak and chakra was slowly diminishing. She was sending chakra to every part of her body hoping to make it stronger. The pull of her injuries and muscles had her limbs feeling weighted down.

With a trembling hand Sakura reached to her kunai holster on her leg and slid from it a kunai. "It's over," she declared as he looked down at his bloodied form.

He smirked. But she didn't see it.

* * *

Sasuke was so close to the gate that he could see that it was ruined. His jaw clenched with worried. He was starting to sweat. _Damn the Akatsuki,_ he thought. They were pissing him off, making him worry about Sakura. The fact that she could take care of herself he was completely ignoring. As well as the fact that she had already killed an Akatsuki member a few years before. Right now Sasuke was out for blood and it didn't matter whose it was, so long he felt their life slip from his hands.

Sasuke's leg muscle suddenly spasmed, forcing him to stop running completely. It was the curse mark. It was threatening to overtake him again. His emotions were so out of control that they caused the curse mark to wake up when it hadn't acted up since his fight with Itachi. The spasm reached his left arm. Sasuke gripped his shoulder so hard he could feel the blood stopping. He couldn't remember when it had hurt so bad. He slowly inhaled and followed that with an exhale. Sasuke needed to chill out, and controlling his breathing always helped.

Just when he got the mark to recede from his arm an explosion hit by the gate where Sakura was. He heart constricted his chest making it feel tight, but he ignored it. Sasuke had taken all but two steps when he felt that he wasn't alone. He felt around with his chakra and the presence was more dark than his own. Inside, Sasuke suppressed a shiver that ran down his spine. He knew the menacing chakra.

Sasuke stood, rigid and straight, as the person approached. First, Sasuke heard the ominous _tak-tak_ of their feet. They grew louder as he activated his sharingan. He had prepared himself for this. He knew the outcome of this fight even if his opponent thought that Sasuke was going die. Itachi didn't give him the Mangekyo Sharingan for nothing. Sasuke closed his eyes and smirked.

"Long time, no see," Tobi said from the middle of the road in front of him. Sasuke opened his eyes to see the orange and black swirl mask on the face of Madara Uchiha. After today he truly would be the last Uchiha in the world.

"Not long enough," Sasuke coldly said. He glared at Tobi as he braced his feet apart. Tobi, who had been chuckling, ceased all sound. Sasuke couldn't see his face but knew that Tobi was glaring at him. The famous Uchiha glare. Too bad that he was immune to that glare.

"Nice penguin suit," Tobi said. Although it was far from a compliment. Sasuke sneered.

"Nice face," Sasuke referred to the swirl mask that his opponent had on. The air tensioned with annoyance, anger even.

"You should have joined us when you had the chance," Tobi threw back just as coldly. Sasuke slid out a kunai knife and held it loosely at his side. Tobi took one step forward, Sasuke stood his ground.

"I told you 'no' once. My answer is the same now," Sasuke glared. After his fight with Itachi, Tobi had pulled him away to a cave by the beach. He offered Sasuke the so-called truth, and a place within Akatsuki. Sasuke only believed part of the story but said no the Akatsuki. He would never join, and especially not after being home like this.

Tobi snorted at his answer. "For what? The girl? Deidara's taking care of her right now. Or is it the Nine-Tailed brat? What are you going to do, Sasuke? Take the fox's chakra for yourself? That's a smart plan, since he trusts you."

The kunai that had been in Sasuke's hand cut through the air at an almost non-visible pace. The cling of metal was heard a second after when Tobi had stopped it with a kunai of his own. Sasuke grinded his teeth. Damn, he totally flew off the handle at the mention of Naruto. He never did that before. What's worse, is that Tobi knew it.

Tobi chuckled, which only made Sasuke even more pissed off than he already was. "A little sensitive about the Fox, huh? I never knew you two had such a strong bond." Enough was enough. Yes, him and Naruto had a strong bond. He considered Naruto his friend, his brother. But someone like Tobi or Madara Uchiha or whoever the hell he was didn't even deserve to talk about it.

Sasuke threw three shuriken, all aimed for the vital points of the body. One to the jugular, the other to the heart and the last one to the kidney. Tobi defected them all but Sasuke knew he would, that wasn't his plan. Discreetly, Sasuke summoned two snakes and made them wait in the shadows for his command. Fast as a bullet train, Sasuke followed the path of the shuriken and was in their shadow as Tobi's attention was on deflecting them.

He brought out his kunai and thrust it at Tobi's stomach. As the shuriken fell to the ground Tobi's hands clapped on the kunai two inches before it penetrated his skin. Sasuke jerked as he was forced to stop by Tobi catching the kunai. Tobi swung his hands to the right, forcing Sasuke to let go or spin in air. He took Sasuke's kunai and thrust forward to Sasuke's neck. Sasuke stepped aside and grabbed his wrist.

Holding tightly, Sasuke punched upward to Tobi's elbow and heard the crack as the bones broke. Tobi grunted, but Sasuke followed through by pulling Tobi's arm and throwing him over his body. Tobi landed flat on his back clutching his broken arm. He didn't stay there for long, as he soon got to his feet before Sasuke could do anymore damage.

"Is that what they teach you in Akatsuki?" Sasuke mocked. Though he couldn't see it, Sasuke knew that Tobi was glaring and didn't really care. He was enjoying this.

Tobi made signs with his hands, after the first one Sasuke realized that it was for the fireball technique. Not knowing how big Tobi could get the jutsu Sasuke sprinted at him head on concentrating on his right arm. While running the Chidori blazed in Sasuke's right palm and chirped like the birds for which it was named. He rammed the Chidori ahead of him aiming for Tobi's heart. He wanted Tobi dead, and this fight was kill or be killed. The sooner this was over, the happier Sasuke would be.

Tobi immediately stopped the hand signs he had been making and as Sasuke came at him. Tobi got under the Chidori and aimed a knife in Sasuke's heart. The Sharingan read Tobi's movement in a matter of seconds giving Sasuke chance to dodge. He couldn't dodge the whole knife with Tobi still holding his arm but instead of getting hit in the heart he was pierced in his left shoulder.

Both opponents kicked off the ground and landed away from each other. Sasuke panted and pulled the knife out, letting it drop to the ground. He grinded his teeth. _How did he move his arm!? I broke it!_ Sasuke screamed in his mind. Tobi's arm was useless from the elbow down, it shouldn't even be able to hold a knife much less be able to slice through flesh to get such a deep wound.

But Sasuke realized that's what it meant to be Akatsuki. The power to defy normal laws, to have almost unlimitless strength, that was what Akatsuki was. There was a time Sasuke remembered when he wanted that. He wanted it so bad that he left his friends, his home. Even though he didn't regret it he wouldn't do it again. Not now, not after Itachi was dead. Not now that he could walk with Naruto and Sakura and Kakahi just like he used to. Living with ultimate strength was nothing if you were alone. It was nothing if you couldn't use it to protect the people important to you.

Sasuke felt his vision change. Every movement Tobi made was magnified, the chakra that flowing his veins easier to see and every cell his body rushed and roared with energy. This was what the Mangekyo Sharingan felt like. And this was what it meant to have the name Uchiha. He saw Tobi stiffen, a minor movement but amazingly sharpened with the Mangekyo.

"Didn't think I'd use this on you, did you?" Sasuke sneered. While he felt the power he knew that he couldn't up hold this for very long. The stamina it took was draining. The curse mark was throbbing again, threatening to take over.

"So you can make it appear, but do you know how to use it to it's full advantage?" Tobi mocked. Sasuke clenched his hands and, with not even a blur of movement, was in front of Tobi and hit the mask on his face that was making him sick to look at.

"I don't care about it's full advantage. I care about your death," Sasuke growled. Tobi had crashed into a building wall and got up. Just as soon as he was on his feet Sasuke came at him with taijutsu in such rapid succession Tobi fought to block them and fight back. After several minutes of exchanging punches and kicks they were locked onto each other. Sasuke had Tobi's fist in his hand while his other fist was caught in Tobi's.

"I thought you wanted to destroy this village. Take you're full revenge," Tobi taunted. Sasuke's hand curled around Tobi's fist so much it trembled and threatened to break Tobi's fingers.

"I'll take my full revenge…when I feel like _it_," Sasuke punctuated the last word in that sentence by throwing all his weight into Tobi and knocking him off balance. Sasuke followed through with a kick to Tobi's chest that sent him back several yards.

* * *

The party had livened up after the announcement of Naruto becoming Hokage. Only Naruto couldn't seem to get in the party mood. Neither could Hinata or Sai and Kakashi. Deep down in his gut Naruto just knew there was something wrong. It was like the time when Gaara had been kidnapped. Something just felt off about this.

Unfortunately for Naruto, the bell by the East Gate suddenly cut through the music that was soulfully being played and the beat of music went silent. The whole party went dead silent as the bell echoed through out the night. The ringing in Naruto's ears made his stomach twist and summersault. The tension in the party could have been cut with a knife. The partygoers, being ninja, looked around out of the courtyard, their hands automatically going to their concealed hidden under the formal clothes.

Naruto wasted no time. He looked at Tsunade, the expression on her face made his heart pound that much harder. It was written on her face, _It's happening now. _Naruto looked to Hinata and saw the blunt fear written acrossed her expression as she swallowed. He knew that look would forever be etched in his memory. He probably should have went the safe house Tsunade told him to go to, but he wouldn't. Naruto tore out of there with Sai and Kakashi right on his heels, his brain not thinking and let his feet carry him.

The Hokage Tower lobby was just a blur to him as he ran out into the street. The East Gate was the direction he ran in. Naruto heard shouts and his name but he paid no mind. This was Sasuke and Sakura they were talking about. Who for all he knew they could have the whole Akatsuki on them right now. He wasn't slowing down, not until he knew they were alive. Naruto pumped his legs as hard as the could've gone.

Tsunade watched Team seven rip through the crowd. She knew this would happen, but so soon? Damn it. There were still half the citizens in the village. The secret evacuation was working, but they still had half the damn village to get out. She had hoped that as Hokage she would have never had to see this.

"Lee, Neji, Tenten. Follow them," Tsunade ordered. Immediately three poofs of white smoke was seen. "Hinata and the rest of the Chunin go to the village, find any survivors and take them to the secret passage ways."

Most of the party disappeared in white smoke. When that cleared, Tsunade got off the dance floor and headed to the back door of the lobby. The only sound was the click of her heels and everyone following her. She grinded her teeth and resisted the urge to hit the wall and smash it into little tiny pieces.

"Shikamaru," Tsunade started, but she didn't have to finish.

"It will be troublesome, but we may be able to push them back. At least long enough to regroup, make out our losses," he said on her right. His fingertips were touching each other in front of his stomach, the way they did when he thought.

"Gai, go the passages in the Hokage Mountain. Guard them, no one goes in or out unless they're allies. Kuranai, go with him," Tsunade said curtly. They would get out of this alive. The Akatsuki would not get Naruto, it's all going to be okay. But as much as she repeated that in her mind, she just couldn't bring herself to believe it.

"Shikamaru, Shizune, get a small group together. Go after any enemy you see. Kill them on sight, fast and without mercy," she ordered. Tsunade walked up the stairs that led to her office, leaving Shikamaru and Shizune by the landing, determination settling on their features. Jiraiya, who was following Tsunade up the stairs grimly looked at the back of his old team mate. Shikamaru and Shizune's footsteps were the only sound to echo now.

"Tsunade, you're sending them to their death," he pointed out. Tsunade said nothing but opened up the door to her office and walked right up to the wall. The silence was heavy, weighting down every fear Jiraiya had, making it that much heavier.

_Tap, tap-tap, tap._ Tsunade stood back as a part of the wall slid out to make a counter that went waist high. It was like a freezer, Jiraiya could feel the chill as the visible vapor reached him. Tsunade took out vile after vile and stuffed them into her pockets. She was taking her dear sweet time about getting those viles out. Jiraiya just couldn't stand around while God only knows what's happening outside. He was by her side in a second, taking hold of her upper arm, stopping her progress.

"What the hell are you doing? People are fighting for their lives out there and you're just getting out some pink shit in a test tube?!" Jiraiya shouted, glaring dangerously at her. She glared right back, not taking his shit.

"These test tubes are going to kill the Akatsuki," she yelled right back. She shrugged off his grip roughly and took the last tube out from the freezer. The coolness gave him goose bumps and he shivered a bit as Tsunade closed the freezer back into the wall while the glare she gave him was icier than any freezer. Jiraiya took on a mocking expression.

"Really?"

"Yes. Each one was made for a specific member. From what you told me, I made these in case Akatsuki every attacked," Tsunade said, looking down at a pink colored one. She sighed and put in her pocket.

"You had these all along? Why wait until now to use them!?" Jiraiya exclaimed. Tsunade glared at him as she left the office and quickly walked out of the corridor and down the stairs.

"Because, you have to inject it with a needle. They can't drink it or anything. No one in this village could have gotten close enough to inject this in their bloodstream. Besides these are the only ones I have. There was no time to make more," Tsunade explained as they walked quickly to the lobby. Once out in the open air, it was anything but fresh. Metallic odor swept with the wind and metal on metal grinding could be heard in the distance. This was war all over again.

"If we die tonight…" Jiraiya started. His eyes reflected the sadness, the pain and loss he had gone through. Tsunade understood. Jiraiya was talking about Naruto, Sakura and the others. If they die tonight, it'd be a burden on their shoulders that they would have to bare. Naruto, especially.

"We won't. Not if we work together." With that said, two poofs of white smoke littered the air and floated away on the gentle breezed until it disappeared altogether.

* * *

**A/N: I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It feels so good to update this. **

**Review, darlings! **


	20. Fight to the Death

**A/N: Well, here it comes, the last few chapters in this story. I'm really lazy about updating recently so I have to kick my own ass to get myself to do anything. And I have an excuse, well kinda, but you probably don't wanna hear it so read on. And sorry it's short. **

**Disclaimer: Totally standard.**

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* * *

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"They're fighting back," Konan said from her vantage on top of the Hokage mountain. Her and Pein were over looking the village and its destruction. He stood beside her as they watched buildings break and smoke rise.

"I'd expect nothing less," Pein said, not looking at Konan, but the village. He had waited so long for this. The village who destroyed his family would finally be laid to rest so he could start his new era. He felt almost like smiling, but they still had four more other great nations and the village hadn't even been conquered yet, but he was so close he could taste.

"What if some of us die?" Konan asked, looking over at him. His expression didn't change, nor did his demeanor. But his aura now had a menacing feel that it didn't have before.

"Then they were expendable," he answered. Konan understood this but still felt slightly threatened. She looked away from him and back over the village. They wouldn't join the fight unless it was necessary. Both of them had killed everyone they could find while the others went into position as the East Gate bell rang.

The bell had surprised Konan. Someone had found them out so early, it was almost humiliating. But from here Konan could see that it was Sakura Haruno who had rang the bell. Deidara was taking care of her now. The village was trying to counterattack but with so many dead and most of them ninja who had been off duty that night, Konoha was bound to fail. It made Konan almost want to laugh at their efforts.

"And the Fox?" Konan asked. Pein glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. Konan stiffened. No one had asked when they would take the kid, no one had the guts. But they were here now and she needed a plan to follow. Konoha was tricky village, they had good ninja. Stubborn ninja.

"We'll take him after he's fought one of us. I don't intend to take him head on. We need to preserve our strength," he told her. Then he turned on his heel and walked down the mountain. He took his time walking down not wanting to rush things. Pein didn't look back, already knowing that Konan would be following him. Inside his head he was having thought after thought, all with the same theme: Konoha's destruction. He wondered how badly hurt the Fox brat would be if he sicced Zetsu on him.

Hm, that was an amusing thought. The kid would probably be freaked out by Zetsu's head. Plus the brat was of the Wind Element and Zetsu had always wanted to fight the element that was opposite himself. Zetsu could get into position easily enough. Putting a hand to his ear, Pein turned on the frequency the Akatsuki were using. Static cackled in his ear before he pushed the button that would allow him to speak.

"Zetsu," he said into the mouth piece that was on the inside of his black coat. He didn't stop walking as he spoke.

"What is it?" came the growling reply. "I'm busy stalking the clean up crew."

Pein frowned and almost glared. He got the black side when he much preferred the white side. Pein pushed the button again, slightly annoyed and dodging branches, forgetting how leafy Konoha was.

"Ignore them for now. Find the Fox and take him down. Just don't kill him yet," he ordered. He soon tired of walking down the mountain so decided to jump off the ledge over to his right. His feet landed softly on a trail that lead the back way into the village. He continued walking and heard Konan landing behind him.

Low laughter erupted from the ear piece. It was low in volume but clearly the laugh of someone insane. Pein was already used to Zetsu's laugh and paid little attention to him. Then the static came back on and Pein switched the radio off so the static that sounded wouldn't annoy him further.

"Are we fighting?" Konan asked from behind him, drawing closer to walk next to him. Pein swallowed the smirk he wanted to put on his face.

"We'll see," sounding like a father making a deal with his daughter. Konan looked away from him and ahead of her, not liking his answer.

"You should take care of your body," Konan warned. This time he looked over to her but she kept her gaze ahead. She was a little put out with him.

"Don't worry," Pein said in totally confidence, "I have five others if this one fails."

* * *

Neji, Lee, and Tenten raced acrossed Konoha to find Naruto and the rest of Team Seven. However, Naruto was so fast that they lost him and his team before they even made it two blocks from the Hokage Tower. They stopped, so Neji could activate the Byakugan and locate the fleeing ninja. Naruto and company were heading in the most direct way to the East Gate but that came at no surprise.

"We'll never catch them like this," Lee stated, his weights feeling more than usually did at the moment.

"Neji, Lee should go after them. He's faster than us if he takes off the weights," Tenten reasoned. Neji just stood, staring into space. He wasn't even focusing on anything in particular.

"Neji, I agree. I can get to them faster, you and Tenten can follow," Lee added, no pose or perfect guy smile. But Neji still didn't respond. They stood in silence for a few seconds before Tenten got in his face.

"Neji! Are you freaking listening?" Tenten yelled. She put her face right in front of his hoping to snap him out of his daze. It worked, but not the way she imagined.

"Listen," Neji ordered. Tenten backed off, wondering if Neji drank any of the punch at the party.

"Neji--" Lee started.

"No. Listen," he commanded. Curiosity ignited, Tenten shut up and stared at a building. But there was no sound. Just Lee's heavy breathing and Tenten's own heart beat in her ears. Every thing else was still and silent, not even crickets.

"Neji, there is nothing," Lee whispered. He didn't want to tick off Neji. He didn't do anything for no reason. So Lee just accepted that what Neji did had an important reason. Though he was itching to move and his palms were starting to sweat Lee forced himself to remain calm and still.

"Exactly," Neji responded, just as quietly. "No one is running for their life. They're already dead, which also makes it easier to pick us off. Their targets are those moving and how much do you want to bet someone has intercepted Naruto and his group. If we go there, we'd get in their way."

Tenten stood speechless. Never had she heard Neji speak of getting in someone's way. If anything he'd say they'd get in his way. Just that little slip sent a shiver down Tenten's back. Life or death is what this came down to, with almost half the medics dead, half the ninja dead, and being caught by surprise. Tenten suddenly wanted to embrace her team and for the first time she wished Gai-sensei was here to make her feel better.

Lee stared at his comrade, accepting what may be their final battle together. Neji had a point, they needed to say together. As a team Lee always felt that they were invincible although he knew they were not. But Lee had started trembling and wished Neji would make a back handed comment about something, anything. Lee took a deep breath trying to separate his fear from excitement and tried to feel only excitement.

"Tenten, go to the East Gate and help Sakura. I'm sure she'll need it now that Naruto, Kakashi, and Sai have been intercepted," Neji ordered, looking Tenten square in the eye. Lee's jaw went slack_. What?!_ He thought they were supposed to fight together. Tenten, though confused, nodded. Then, with slight hesitation, she turned and jumped to the roof of a nearby building, leaving them in the dust. Neji turned slowly, facing the way his back had been when he was speaking to Tenten.

"You can come out now," he calmly stated, even though he was glaring daggers. There was a chuckling that came from an alley just behind them. It was in full shadow and Lee couldn't see a damn thing but Neji was tense and stiff, showing Lee just how dangerous this enemy was.

Movement caught Lee's eyes as he struggled to see what Neji could so easily detect. The shadow that moved caused Lee to tense. It was big, much taller than he was, and his chakra radiated from his body in the most deadly and threatening way Lee had ever seen. Sasuke was the only one whose chakra could be so deadly so easily. Lee's stomach quivered as he thought about fighting his guy. He clenched his palms against his spandex clad legs, to keep from throwing the first blow.

Out of the shadow came a black cloak with red clouds painted in various orders. Something on his back was wrapped with medical tape that gave off an aura of chakra on its own. When the figure stepped completely out of the shadows Lee saw Kisame's shark-like face with sharp teeth and things that even looked like gills on the side of his neck. Kisame was smiling at them with an almost predator type look.

"Spotted me already? I was hoping to do this the easy way," his voice mocked. It was almost like he was enjoying this. Lee resisted the urge to throw up as he realized that Kisame loved hunting people down like prey.

"Lee, prepare yourself," Neji quietly spoke out of the corner of his mouth. Without needing further instruction, Lee bent down on one knee and removed the weight from under the orange leg warmer. He did the same with his other leg, trying to make his movements as small and unnoticeable as possible. He placed the weights down gently, so Kisame didn't know how heavy they were or how fast Lee could be without them.

"You know, you would have had a better chance at living if you didn't send the girl off," Kisame laughed. To him it seemed that their efforts were futile. Lee felt a stab of annoyance at Kisame's laid back style. Tenten was better off not fighting Kisame in Lee's opinion. _Wait, was that why….?_ Lee stared at Neji but only saw his back. Telling Tenten to leave was Neji's way of trying to save her? Was that it? Lee felt immediate appreciation for Neji's eyes and his overprotective regard for his team mate.

"You talk too much," was all Neji said as he got into his gentle fist position. Then without warning Lee lunged at the fastest speed his legs could carry him. He was nothing more than a barely there blur as Kisame's attention was focused on Neji. Lee brought himself under Kisame and kicked his chin upward. With no way to have seen the attack coming, Kisame floated about twenty five feet off the ground.

Lee took a runners stance and jumped up under his target. He had never been this close to an Akatsuki member and hoped that for the rest of his life he would never have to do this again. Being so close made his skin crawl but Lee unwrapped the bindings on his arms and put them around Kisame. But as soon as he touched the wrapped thing on his back, the wrappings were torn to shreds. Little spikes came out to embed themselves in Lee's chest. He was almost on the verge of dropping the attack but felt an idea form in his head.

Lee switched his and Kisame's positions in the air and Lee took back his bindings from Kisame's body. Instead, Lee turned himself in mid air and brought out one leg to land a bone breaking blow to his back. However it would have been bone breaking if the spike things weren't there. Lee felt the blood flow down his chest and his leg as Kisame fell hard to the ground from Lee's kick.

Neji, who had not been surprised that Lee took Kisame head on, watched the Akatsuki member hurl to the ground. Not missing a beat, Neji planted himself where Kisame was sure to land and put his body in gentle fist position. As Kisame came down, Neji raised one hand, aimed for his heart and intended to hit the major organ hoping to bring this fight to an end before someone died. Suddenly, Kisame's body disappeared into water as it came to Neji's hand. Neji was soaked as he looked around with his byakugan trying to locate Kisame before Kisame located him.

"Water clone," Lee said as he landed on the ground. Neji saw movement behind Lee.

"Lee, behind you!" he yelled. Lee, not one to ignore Neji's directions, turned on the spot to see a spiky sword coming down right on top of his head. Knowing he couldn't block it with his hands, Lee flipped backwards as the sword crushed the ground where Lee just stood. Neji ran for the shark man while he was trying to lift his sword back up. He was close enough and hit Kisame with a sixteen consecutive hits to his chakra network before Neji felt the chakra drain from him at an alarming rate.

Lee, out of instinct, grabbed Neji by the back of his shirt and pulled him out of range of the sword that had started to glow with, what Lee sensed, was Neji's chakra. Lee let go Neji, knowing that he wouldn't like being held for long. Neji straightened to stare at the sword, trying to understand how it worked before trying something close range again.

"Like my Samehade? Cuts people to ribbons," Kisame smiled, showing his shark teeth and stood in a lazy position.

* * *

Naruto ignored everything surrounding him. Not like he could see any of it properly anyway with the speed he was running. Kakashi and Sai were hot on his trail but Naruto ignored that too. There was only one thing that was important to him right now, and that was finding Sasuke and Sakura alive and well. His mind raced with every possibility that it could form while running east to the gate, but before he let the fear paralyze him, he forced it back. To keep from panicking he imagined his team, Hinata, Team Gai, and the rookie nine at his after party for when he became Hokage.

_And that will become reality, I swear it!_ he fiercely thought. He just got back part of his family and he would not lose it now. Not to these Akatsuki assholes.

His legs started to feel the strain of running at such a speed. The muscles burned in protest but he ran on, one more thing he was ignoring. His sensitive nose started picking up the smell of blood, but he didn't know whose it was, just that it was blood, fresh blood. A sharp movement assaulted his peripheral vision and he grounded to a stop. Naruto's feet slid on the road creating a dust storm around him. In a matter of seconds he was joined by Kakashi and Sai.

"Naruto, stop running off like a madman hell bent on destruction," Kakashi said. Sai just looked at him with his usual blank look. Naruto ignored them both for now, trying to see what made him stop in the first place. He didn't move his head, but his eyes rolled from side to side trying to pick up some sort of signature.

"Dickless, what are you looking for?" Sai asked, his eyes slightly narrowed as he too reached out with his senses for something to latch onto. Naruto felt Kakashi stiffen and was immediately put on alert.

"He's looking for that," Kakashi told them, looking straight at the ground in front of Naruto. The dirt of the road distorted, opening a hole type vortex. Rising out of the ground was, what looked like, a venus fly trap. But it had suddenly had a head, one side black while the other was white. Covering its body was a cloak of black showing off red clouds. Once the Akatsuki was fully out to the hole he created, the ground went back to normal, only with the extra gift of who the three knew to be Zetsu.

Naruto growled slightly in the back of his throat. "Get the hell out of my way," he warned. The black side of his face lifted into a smirk and chuckled.

"Sorry, I've waited too long for this to just walk away," he said. The air around the four suddenly became tense and overbearing. Naruto clenched his fist at his sides trying to rein in his anger. This asshole was keeping him from Sakura and Sasuke. He was just about ready to but him in both sides of his face, because he didn't know which side would hurt and cry out more, and tear him to nothingness. But the ground suddenly rumbled and cracked like one of Sakura's punches to the earth and strong vines and plant life sudden grew from the ground and wrapped themselves around Kakashi and Sai.

"What is this?" Kakashi asked, his eye widened in surprise.

"I've been waiting too long to have this messed up by two insignificant, meaningless ninja," he said. Naruto felt his anger just triple at the vines that gave Sai and Kakashi full body masks. The only thing visible was their heads. Naruto felt a growl deep in his throat burn with rage.

"Let them go," he demanded, his voice slightly wavering because of the added demonic voice that wasn't his. Naruto put one foot slightly back, ready to charge at him at any given moment.

"Bring it on," the black side said to Naruto. He needed no further prompting and dashed for Zetsu. In his palm he swirled his chakra, ready to end it fast. However as Naruto lunged toward his enemy, Zetsu disappeared in the earth again.

"Naruto his element is earth. The polar opposite of yours, be careful or this will last a while," Kakashi yelled to him. It barely registered in Naruto's brain but he'd log it away for later. He couldn't sense any chakra in any direction so he reached out with his hearing. His eyes wouldn't do much in the darkness the village was cast in now so he closed his eyes to hear any movement that he could.

He found it. To his right was a small almost insignificant sound that he would have over looked had this been any other opponent. Naruto turned his body immediately to the sound and threw a hard punch. Zetsu went flying through the air and crashed into a building's first floor. Naruto didn't stop his assault as Zetsu made to stand. Naruto conjured four shadow clones and they all went diving until the standing Zetsu.

One hit under his chin, then the other followed with a kick that sent him higher in the air. And so did the last two, until the Akatsuki member was floating near the roof the buildings. The original Naruto stood on the roof of the building closest to his target. He jumped and flipped in mid air. His foot landed hard on Zetsu's face, sending him crashing to the ground face first.

But the earth opened up again and Zetsu went through it, again. Naruto felt anger bubble inside his chest. His vision blurred red and he felt the fox trying to break through. It took almost all of his will power to push the beast back. Naruto clenched his fists at his sides as he landed on his feet quietly. He looked around for a sign of his enemy.

"Coward! Fight already," Naruto yelled into the darkness. He heard an echoing chuckle as a response. Zetsu came out of an alley way just in front of Naruto.

"No one's ever had the guts to call me a coward before," he said. Naruto said nothing as he planned his next move. Zetsu however took offense, making Naruto switch to defense. Zetsu ran up to him, vines coming out of his coat's sleeve. It took next to nothing for Naruto to see the thorns on the ends. He swept to the side to avoid the sharp points but they followed him and in his surprise Naruto did nothing to dodge them.

The thick vines wrapped themselves around his arms and legs. They squeezed his limbs so hard he felt them going numb. "It's about time you come with us," Zetsu stated casually walking toward the trapped Naruto.

"That's what you think, freak," Naruto growled.

* * *

Sakura approached the limp body slowly. Her body felt heavy and at its limit, but she struggled on. She gripped the kunai harder to balance herself. The dust was clearing and settling around her as she approached the unconscious Akatsuki member. Sakura's clothes were torn and bloody but she flipped the kunai in her hand making it ready to kill Deidara.

She bent down and slashed the kunai acrossed his neck but before it reached his body a hand gripped her wrist. Deidara's hand gripped her wrist. Sakura's eyes widened and she gasped in shock. He pulled her closer and put his other hand on her chest. She felt something cool and slimy form on her breast bone. She ripped her wrist from his grip and pulled away looking down at her chest.

Clay was hardening on her body as she stepped away from her opponent. Shock and panic tore through her tired body as she dropped the kunai and tore at the clay. It was attached to her skin and the more she pulled to get it off her person the tighter it held on. Now in full on panic she began to tear frantically at it, ignoring it when her finger nails broke and they started to bleed.

Deidara sat in the rubble, not having the strength to get up. He watched her struggle to take off his bomb and smirked when she failed. That bomb wouldn't let go of her, he made sure of it. It was attracted to chakra and he put some of her chakra in it. There was no way it was going to let go of her now that it had hardened. She had about two minutes before it blew up on her chest and ripped open her front.

"What did you do to me?" she snarled at him. His smirk never wavered.

"I signed your death certificate for you, yeah," he calmly answered back. Sakura glared at him, he stared back not afraid of her gaze.

"When will it go off?" she said, low, threatening. She took a step toward him, a small one, but he noticed it and tensed.

"About a minute and a half now, yeah. Then you die," Deidara explained. The gleefulness wasn't masked as he relished in her death. He had never expected her to surpass the Hokage this early in her apprenticeship.

Sakura took another step toward him. "Why do you want the nine-tails so bad? It can't really be because you want to control the world. That's too much of a cliché, even for you guys," she said. Her knees gave out and she fell to the ground about three feet from him.

"Hehe, but we do want to control the world, yeah. Just not the way you think it. We'll make it better, yeah," Deidara supplied. In his mind he planned how to escape from her. She can't be this close to him when the bomb goes off in about 45 seconds.

"Better? _This_ is how you make it better?" she yelled at him. Trembling, Sakura got to her feet again, slowly but surely. "By killing innocent people?"

"They had to go," he told her, slightly wary but giving away no indication that he was so.

"How much longer until this thing kills me?" Sakura asked, resigned. Deidara tilted his head.

"Twenty-five seconds, maybe, yeah," he said, still wary. Sakura smile to herself. This was it. The day she was going to die. She would have much rather died at the hands of someone else than the Akatsuki. But right now that didn't matter. She saw Sasuke in her mind. Brooding, gorgeous, dark, powerful Sasuke. Then Naruto came to mind. He was going to be Hokage, the little blond knucklehead. Kakashi-sensei and his mask took his place beside Sasuke and Naruto in her mind's eye.

Sai and Yamoto-sensei came to her mind too. She smiled, her eyes watery. Her team and friends that she would leave behind. Her family she loved she would leave. Sakura looked to Deidara and rage boiled. This was the reason she wouldn't see them again, and she'd be damned if she didn't take him with her.

All at once, Sakura leapt onto Deidara and tightened her hold so he couldn't escape her. She was going to kill him even if it killed her. There was no that she was going to die alone and leave this guy to ruin all the other villages with his god forsaken team. Deidara shouted his surprise and tried to wriggle his way out of her hold. Her physical strength kept him in place as he tried to struggle.

"What the hell!?!" he shouted. Sakura smiled ferociously at him.

"I'm taking you with me," she said quietly, dangerously. The clay on her chest grew warm rapidly. So warm that it burnt her skin before she heard the boom of the bomb and felt the pain rip at her chest. The bomb exploded and cut deep in her upper body. Ripped through the bone, muscle and tissue. It ripped her arms off her body so she was no longer holding Deidara and was being thrown back in the opposite direction of him. Sakura let herself fold into the darkness where she felt no pain, nothing at all.

* * *

**A/N: I was going to write more, but I kinda wanted to end the chapter like this. But don't worry, I'll try to get the next chapter up real fast and make it longer than this one. In the Next chapter I'll finish Sasuke's fight and get more in depth with Naruto's and Lee and Neji's. Oh and Tsunade and Jiraiya will get in the picture. **

**But until then, read, review, love, etc. **


	21. Gamble Of Life

_Previously in Come Back To Me:_

_--_

"_Like my Samehade? Cuts people to ribbons." _

--

"_It's about time you come with us." _

"_That's what you think, freak." _

_--_

_Sakura let herself fold into the darkness where she felt no pain, nothing at all. _

**--**

"_I'll take my full revenge…when I feel like _it_." _

* * *

Sasuke clutched his left arm and was panting slightly as he stood up from Tobi's last attack. He was cut in three major places and those places were bleeding profusely, mixing with his sweat. He right knee was about to give out but he fought against it. Sasuke panted from extended fight with Tobi. He had wanted to make this quick. But his opponent had other plans.

Sasuke bent his knees in preparation for attack. Tobi beat him to it. But with his eyes Sasuke could see the faster than lightening movement and caught Tobi's knife. He grunted as more blood rushed from his palm, blood that he needed if he wanted to be able to stand. Sasuke gripped the knife harder, harder until it broke and fell to the uneven ground at their feet.

Tobi backed off but then came back with a round house kick. The kick hit Sasuke in the temple and he was ripped from the ground and then was met with the ground again, his head spinning. He coughed and spit the dust from his mouth as he turned over and stood again. A glint was all he saw, but another of Tobi's knives almost ripped out his throat. Sasuke dodged and placed a well aimed punch to Tobi that flew him through the air and a crater appeared on the ground he landed on.

Sasuke took a step toward his opponent, his limbs telling him not to move a muscle as they burned with each movement. But he didn't let Tobi get up. Sasuke kicked the Akatsuki with a force that sent the body in another direction and crashing into a building, yet again.

"Beating me senseless will not help you," Tobi told him, as he got off the ground. There was a crack in his mask, one more punch and it'd fall off.

"But it sure as hell makes me feel better," Sasuke told him. Tobi went after Sasuke again, but then blocked each other's attacks and were stuck, face to mask. Sasuke made a low growling sound in the back of his throat, his rage increasing more every minute he was in this man's presence.

Out of the darkness there was a deafening roar and a blazing orange and yellow light from the East Gate. The force of the aftershock of the bomb threw back the two fighters and they both landed harshly on the ground. Sasuke knew his shoulder would be bruised from that.

_Sakura was at the East Gate,_ he thought, panic rising from his body. He was on his feet in a flash, head turned toward the blast. He couldn't hear a thing for the blast of the bomb and he hoped that it wasn't Sakura. It wasn't allowed to be her.

Suddenly, Sasuke got a rip in his side and saw a blade slicing the side of his body. Tobi swayed, probably from the aftershock of the bomb, which was probably why he missed, and withdrew the dagger. Sasuke took out his kunai and swiped at him, playing no more games.

_Kill him and then I can get Sakura,_ he fiercely thought. Something rippled inside his body, eating at him. Yet making him stronger at the same time. He didn't fight it, he allowed the ripple in his body, allowed the power to overtake him, just this one time. This one time when he was desperate to find Sakura okay and alive.

_The Curse Mark. _

He felt his body contort and hand-like wings ripped from the back of his tux. Or what was left of it. His clothes were in shambles, much like his emotions. He let the rage, that he had kept in check for all of their fight, to be unleashed. And he felt such a dark rush.

The air was tingling with his chakra. It became so dark and suffocating it was a wonder Tobi didn't choke on the very air he breathed. Tattoos covered Sasuke's body with black flame like marks and they clotted together. His skin took on a grey-purplish color, his hair grew, his fingernails became claws, and he all let it happen. Sasuke allowed himself to be incased in his anger, but just long enough to kill Tobi.

Meanwhile, Tobi gathered himself and prepared for Sasuke's anger, but when Sasuke went forward, in a speed he almost couldn't see, he knew that he had lost. Sasuke didn't let up on his attacks. It was kick after punch after pounding Tobi into the ground. The movement was so smooth it could have been choreographed.

Tobi took the beating until he finally saw an opening. He took it and slammed a fist hard into Sasuke's stomach. The blow was so powerful that Sasuke, in his level two form, went through the building walls. And out the other side. But Sasuke's wings flew him up over the building as he came out the other side and back to land in front of Tobi.

The air charged and in a blur of black they attacked each other. The movement of their hits couldn't be seen, just many black blurs that kept getting more and more vicious. Then Tobi took the upper hand, pounding Sasuke back without mercy and giving nothing for Sasuke to do but take it. The minutes dragged on and Tobi finally had Sasuke on the ground with a blade at his throat.

Tobi thrust the blade into Sasuke. The metal scraped on solid metal. A spark highlighted Sasuke's face for second, casting shadows over his psychotic smile that marred his grey tinted face. The blade scraped on some nondescript pan that had been in the buildings but now was on the ground due to the fight.

Sasuke took this as his opening and pushed Tobi from him to stand in the middle of the torn up Konoha street. Sasuke stood, and faced Tobi, whose black and red cloak billowed in the chilling wind as the fighters took their stances.

The spark in the air gave off a dangerous aura, the pulse of adrenaline thrummed to life as Sasuke's smile deepened. Though his face was contorted, he was fully in his right mind, for now at least. And Sasuke felt the pull of power asking for control, he shoved it back though, intent on the kill. Just this one kill.

Sasuke put his hands in front of his face and started doing hand signs at so rapid a pace, they couldn't be seen. Finally he clapped them together in the sign of the tiger, his now yellow eyes glowing with victory.

_Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!_

Instantly a line ignited through the air and the fire followed it like gun powder. In mid air fire followed what seemed to the air itself. The blaze folded itself around Tobi, enclosing him in the middle. The flame then came back to Sasuke, who held a string in between his hands that held the tiger sign. The string was connected to buildings around where the fight had taken place. There were five points, including Sasuke at the head.

"A pentagram? When did you do this?" Tobi asked, looking around to find himself trapped in the fire star.

"When you were paying no attention to what you were hitting," Sasuke replied, voice distorted. He still held the string in his hands.

"Well, congratulations, you made a star," Tobi sarcastically pointed out. Sasuke's smile grew. He quickly changed the symbol of his hand but kept a tight hold on the string. Instantly the flame burned black. The black was so dark it couldn't be seen in the dead of the night. The only thing visible was the deep blue core that traveled closest to the line.

"Do you know what one can do with a star?" Sasuke asked, mocking him.

"Black flames don't intimidate me, child," he said in response. Sasuke ignored the demeaning response and focused all his chakra to his hands. And even more specific, to the part of the fingers that where holding the string. The flames grew slightly higher, a dull roar of the fire could now be heard.

"Black flames kill. And this is the end. So _die!_" Sasuke shouted the last word, and poured every ounce of chakra he had into the string, into the flame.

_Gamble of Life: Five Points of Destruction!_

The blaze became so fierce that they reached over the roof of the buildings and filled in the star with black blaze. Anything inside the star would be burned, only ashes left. A forbidden technique that he had learned from Orochimaru. The survival rate was about two percent. As the chakra that fueled the flames died down, the color went back to orange and yellow. The size was brought back to normal, and in seconds the string burnt.

Falling out mid air, were the ashes of the string Sasuke used. The curse mark receded rapidly, with no charka or anger to fuel it, it fled from his body, leaving giant holes in his tux where his wings had been, his eyes revered back to charcoal and he knelt, panting for breath. His eye sight blurred and almost blackened, but he fought it back.

Sasuke needed to see the ashes. He needed proof. Wearily, he lifted his head to see the middle of the star. His hope disappeared when he saw nothing in the middle of his star. Not even the smallest amount of ash.

_No, no one has ever escaped this jutsu. _

Tired and out of chakra, Sasuke collapsed at the top point of the star.

* * *

Tenten rushed to the gates in the east, but her feet couldn't seem to get there fast enough. No matter how much chakra she fueled her soles with, it wasn't soon enough. She had to find Sakura, and time was just going too slow for liking. At the rate she was running, she just couldn't seem to get any faster, no matter how she tried.

Suddenly, pressure assaulted her entire body and hit like a brick wall. She fell back, stopped in mid-run, onto the ground. Her ears were ringing as she got up and saw a cloud of smoke hovering over the East Gate. With her equilibrium off balance she struggled on, walking until she finally was able to run again.

_An explosion that size? How was it contained, it should have blasted everything to bits, but it only gave us an aftershock? _

Tenten ran until she could the rubble that the was now the East Gate. The air smelled of burnt flesh and a metallic odor hung stagnant where she stood. Her stomach gave a heave of protest, but she slowed to assess the damage. There were no sounds, everything was quiet. Too quiet for there to be a fight in process. She became hyperaware of everything that moved as she stepped over cracked ground and building rubble.

On her far left side she saw black and red, unmoving. Cautiously, she approached, not sensing any chakra from the figure. However, she put a hand on her scroll at her back, just in case. The closer she got the more metallic the air became and Tenten saw why.

Blood was oozing from an undistinguishing body except for parts of a black and red cloth. Beside the mutilated body with no arms or legs, she saw an object that she had once seen on Diedara's left eye. She swallowed, holding back her disgust of the burnt body.

_Sakura? Where are you?_

She turned around and assessed the landscape. Nothing was moving or making any sound. A dark sensations hit her in the gut, but she trotted around, hoping to find Sakura. Hoping to find her alive, but as she scanned the ground and rubble, her hopes dimmed of finding Sakura alive. If there was something left of Deidara then there had to be something left of Sakura too, and Tenten was determined to find it.

She jogged in the opposite direction she found Deidara thinking that the blast had launched them in opposite directions. She was right. About fifty yards from where Deidara was, she found a burnt hand, it didn't even have the wrist. Tenten held back vomit. _No!_

She looked around frantically for the rest of Sakura. Tenten cringed at the thought of parts of Sakura. But she found the torso with red fibers around it and pink hair that was barely noticeable slightly separate from the hand. She couldn't see arms or legs, just like Deidara. Tenten fell to her knees, eyes never leaving the body.

Suddenly, the smell of blood and burnt flesh and hair didn't bother her at all. She wasn't aware of anything but the dead, burnt body of Sakura. The medic was gone, not even her body was left. Anger fueled her body at Deidara and the whole Akatsuki. She was jerked from her anger when the body of what she thought was Sakura vanished with white smoke hovering in the air until it disappeared.

Tenten stared, stunned. Then dragged in a breath, remembering to breath. Sakura vanished, in smoke. What the hell? Tenten stood and looked to the area where her hand had been. Gone, there was nothing there. She heard a sound, a thud in the shadows of an almost demolished building. Ignoring her ninja cautiousness that she was taught, she ran to the sound.

In the shadows, there was a silhouette on the ground. Tenten rushed to it and fell down beside it. She touched the body and pulled her hand back to feel a warm, sticky substance.

_Blood._

Tenten pulled out her scroll with practiced ease and summoned a light. The scroll lay on the ground emitting light so she could see Sakura. There wasn't much to see. Blood covered Sakura's body from head to toe. Her hair was matted with it, her skirt and shorts were also nothing but red.

Tenten put her hand to Sakura's neck. The skin was warm, but the pulse was faint. Tenten worked quickly, she tore off Sakura's shirt and blood still oozed out from under the shirt she had. She couldn't see any wounds, so Tenten cleared off some of the blood with a glove she had taken off. There was a cut acrossed her stomach. Tenten cleared away some more blood from Sakura's arm and noticed small cuts all over, dripping blood.

_The blast. She hid down, but the air was blown so powerfully, the air cut her body to ribbons. _

Tenten gritted her teeth and took off her outer jacket. Quickly and without hesitation she tore it in four parts. Two went around her arms and the other two went around her legs. She hoped this would slow blood flow so Sakura wouldn't lose as much as she already had. With silent hand signs Tenten performed a water jutsu. Controlling the water with her chakra she washed off the blood to see how bad Sakura's injuries really were. When she was done, she wished she hadn't cleaned off the blood.

Pieces of skin where hanging off her arms and legs, her face had so many cuts Tenten could hardly recognize Sakura's face. After the blood was washed off, it came right back. There was no stopping it. Sakura was going to die if she didn't do something. She didn't have the control for medically healing her with chakra, but at the moment she didn't have a choice. The time was passed for her to take Sakura to the hospital.

Closing her eyes and focusing only on the green energy that came from her hand, she put her hand on of Sakura's wounds. She focused her chakra on knitting back together the skin. Tenten couldn't knit the muscles and other tissue, she didn't have time. After what seemed like forever, one of the big wounds was pretty much closed.

Tenten breathed slowly, trying to go slow when she wanted to do nothing but rush. Her hand was trembling in her control, but she went on to the next biggest cut and worked on that one, hoping to knit it up. Slowly, and after a time period Tenten didn't know, Sakura opened her eyes. Tenten, panting with chakra exhaustion, stopped on the deep wound at her shoulder to marvel that Sakura was awake.

"Tenten."

"Sakura! You're going to be okay, I promise," Tenten told her. Sakura looked at her, then her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out again. Tenten's determination renewed itself and she started working again, slowly, though not steadily. As she worked to save Sakura from dying of blood loss, question after question attacked her mind.

_What the hell happened? How did she survive?!_

* * *

Naruto, trapped by thorned vines, disappeared in white smoke. Zetsu recalled his vines and they were tucked back in his cloak sleeves. He didn't see the blond ninja anywhere as he looked around. Only his captives where visible. A blur in front of him snapped Zetsu to attention.

Naruto appeared not a foot from Zetsu, his giant rasengan swirling dangerously in his right palm. Wasting no time, he thrust it in Zetsu's torso, the wind blowing up dust around the battle. Naruto followed Zetsu as his was slammed backward into the ground. The ground cracked and he pushed the Akatsuki member farther and farther in the crater.

He didn't let up, even when his rasengan disappeared. Naruto grabbed the front of Zetsu's cloak and spun around in a circle. Once he was going fast enough, Naruto let go and fell on his butt from the inertia. Zetsu, however was slammed against a building's two story wall. He fell to the ground with a loud crash, dust smoked up from the impact of the body.

Naruto stood and tried to catch his breath.

_That was too easy,_ he thought.

Sure enough, Zetsu's form could be spotted in the dust. He sported a huge crater in his torso that was bleeding profusely and dripping down his cloak and pooling at his feet.

"Are you going to surrender yet?" Naruto asked him, glaring. Zetsu said nothing, he just chuckled. It built up and soon Zetsu was full out laughing. "What the hell is so funny?"

Zetsu stopped laughing and raised a bloodied hand to this mouth. His tongue darted out and licked off the blood. Naruto's stomach raised at the sight, but he fought down the disgust.

"This is only the beginning," Zetsu said, smirking on his black side. Naruto gritted his teeth hard.

"This is the end," he said, and ran toward his opponent. Zetsu disappeared before Naruto reached him. Naruto stopped and looked around. Then movement caught his eye and he raised a kunai to the cut through the vines attacking him. He realized that the vines would never stop and jumped away to land on the wall of a building behind him.

Zetsu quickly did hand signs. Naruto, who was about to move, stopped. Zetsu put a hand to the wall, and green came appeared on the building.

"Earth Style: Amazon Jungle."

_Amazon…?_

The green moss spread and within seconds, Naruto, Kakashi, and Sai were trapped in a jungle. Even the sounds were life like. Naruto heard frogs croaking and birding singing. The buildings had turned into large trunked trees and Kakashi and Sai were tied now to a giant rock.

"Let's not make this easy for you, shall we?" Zetsu said, his hand on a tree with moss covering it that was once a building.

_Oh crap._

The jungle seemed to attack him at once. Branches swiped at him and he jumped to dodge them; Leaves hurled themselves at him but the ones he couldn't avoid cut his face and arms; vines hanging on the trees all came at him at once, trying to encase him but Naruto cut through them with two blades in his hands. The jungle came at him from every angle just like Haku's Ice Mirrors. Naruto swallowed, and closed his eyes then disrupted the flow of his chakra, hoping to get out of a genjutsu. Zetsu chuckled.

"This is real. There's no way you can get out of it," he said. He had been watching while Naruto had fought his jungle.

"I can bust my way out!" Naruto shouted. He made the standard ninja hand sign.

_Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu! _

Millions of Narutos snapped up everywhere. They were in the trees, on the ground, hanging from the vines that had tried to kill him and on the rocks that were randomly placed through the jutsu. They, as a group, went after Zetsu. He had to fight them off with taijutsu. One after another the Narutos disappeared, but there were still plenty more. The shadow clones wouldn't run out anytime soon.

So the jungle began to attack them as well. Bladed leaves shot through air making Narutos disappear. Vines suffocated them and they went poof. Branches took out hundreds in one sweep. After all the shadow clones disappeared the jungle was empty. Zetsu panted from the exhaustion of fighting the clones, grateful for the jungle's help.

But the small clearing was empty, his opponent was gone. He knew the kid had too much guts to just run away. He carefully looked around and in his sweep, his eyes locked with a paper bomb.

The bomb exploded and that bomb was a catalyst. The explosions got closer and closer to him in less than a second. Before he could react, a paper bomb under his feet was trigger and he jumped but still caught some of the blast on his legs.

Naruto ran out from the trees, his Shuriken Rasengan making the wind blow around them and the leaves to roar. Zetsu was startled and Naruto moved in fast. Even though Zetsu attempted to dodge it, Naruto hit him with it full on.

The crush sound of the tree as Zetsu was blown back shouted through out the atmosphere and for a second Naruto was partially deaf. The dust rose up in a large cloud so big that Naruto couldn't even see the trees anymore. He fought his way through the dust to see a huge crescent carved out of the tree where Zetsu's body was placed.

Chakra loss kicked in at that moment and Naruto felt like he had just put on full body weights. He didn't want to use the Fox's power or the powers of the Toad Sage, so he stood there panting at the body of a defeated Akatsuki member. Naruto turned and slowly walked back to where he could make out the shapes of Kakashi and Sai. The dust was still settling.

Sudden pain assaulted his back. A gripping pain that made his eyes water a little. He looked down and saw the tip of a kunai. He suddenly heard the panting of his undefeated opponent behind him. Zetsu had struck him close to the spine in the middle of the right side of his back. The warm gooey blood ran down his front as well as his back. It kept flowing.

"Come with me before you die," his angry voice whispered. Naruto sucked in a hurtful breath. He would have told him to go to hell if he could have breath properly. His lung was probably hit, so he was completely fucked for fighting him. The blood running in a river down his front and back was making him light headed.

"Naruto! Catch!"

Naruto raised his throbbing head to see Granny Tsunade throwing something at him. Zetsu, probably thinking that Naruto wouldn't be able to catch it, reached out his hand. Naruto grabbed his wrist and squeezed, taking satisfaction in the crunch of broken bones, and caught what Tsunade had thrown at him.

It was a needle, like a shot they give people at the hospital. Only the liquid inside it was orange.

"Inject him with it!" Tsunade yelled. Naruto needed no further instructions. The arm he still had a hold of was punctured with the needle. The orange liquid drained quickly from the vial to Zetsu's arm. The reaction was almost immediate.

The skin turned grey. The grey spread throughout his body and his eyes turned an greenish yellow color. White foam poured from his mouth and he began to shake. The shaking grew so bad that he let go of the kunai and fell to the ground. He convulsed for a few more seconds and then laid still. Still like the dead.

Naruto fell to his knees. Gritting his teeth, he reached behind him and pulled out the kunai. It burned his already inflamed skin and blood squirted in random directions. He panted and his vision was blurry, but he felt a warmth on his wound. It felt better.

Soon his vision returned and Tsunade was kneeling in front of him. Her hands glowed green as she worked on the exit wound. In minutes she was at his back closing the wound there. She could do nothing for his blood loss yet, so she healed the wound enough so that Naruto could walk around.

"Thanks, but I totally could have taken him," Naruto tried for a grin but failed. Tsunade stood up.

"Maybe. Kakashi, can you take care of him?" Tsunade asked. Kakashi and Sai were free from their bonds and had begun to walk over to them.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Kakashi assured. Naruto looked around as Tsunade turned to leave.

"Wait, where's the Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked her, with a hand on his still not healed wound.

"We split up when we met with Pein. Neji and Lee are closest to here, I have to go help them with their fight," Tsunade told them. They nodded and Tsunade disappeared in the trees.

"You going to be okay, Naruto?" Kakashi asked him. By the set of his jaw, Naruto could tell that his former sensei wasn't happy. He looked at Sai. Neither was Sai.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto said, looking at the grey colored Akatsuki member.

* * *

Lee was thrown back from the force of a wave a water that crashed into him like a freight train. He was glad that they weren't near a lake so his Akatsuki enemy couldn't trap him in the water prison again. Once he and Neji had a blast from the past when they realized that they had both fought this man three years ago, the fight had turned deadly. Incredibly deadly.

Lee forced his weak muscles to life his tired body from the wet ground. He was panting hard, not taking in enough air after all the water that had been shoved down his throat.

"Lee?" Neji asked.

"I am fine," he replied, wiping his mouth. Lee looked over to Neji seeing that his partner was panting heavily as well. Blood from where Kisame's sword had cut him dripped down his body staining his green jump suit.

"Nothing seems to be working," Neji observed. From his point of view, they were getting nowhere.

"I agree, we need to finish this fast before we drop just from exhaustion alone," Lee responded. Through out the past half hour, Neji and Lee had tried several strategies, all were out witted by this shark of a man.

"Don't tell me that this is Konoha's finest," Kisame taunted. Lee felt anger flood him just like the water had done earlier. Neji grabbed his arm and Lee took a calming breath.

Kisame sighed and then without warning rushed at the two. They both jumped out of range as the scaled sword came crashing to the ground. Lee took advantage of the opening and swung a hard to kick his enemy's back. He felt bones crack under his foot. Relief flooded Lee, the first successful shot they had had in a while.

Kisame, however swung his sword around and caught Lee in side. The sharp edges of the sword punctured Lee all the way down on his left side. He was thrown into a building and the rubble crashed over him. Kisame snickered, showing his jagged teeth.

"Lee!" Neji shouted. He didn't get an answer. Neji's heat kicked into over drive, fear for his team mate battling with his need to win. His hands started to shake. Neji clenched his fists and then entered the Hyuuga stance. Kisame stopped snickering, content with flashing Neji a grin.

"You know that won't work and you're friend is down for the count. Give up," he said. Neji just tensed his body, getting ready to lunge. He moved lightning fast, only a little slower than Lee with his weights on. Neji slammed his fist on Kisame's right arm, and then his right shoulder before felt his chakra drain from him again.

Neji backed off, panting even harder. With his chakra draining at an unnatural rate from this guy's sword, Neji was really starting to worry. He was lucky that he could be standing from the amount of chakra that sword had absorbed from him. The scales on Kisame's sword were getting sharper and sharper with the chakra that it drained from him.

Neji backed up and waited. Kisame, he knew, was impatient. It wouldn't take long for him to come at Neji and attack. That attack came sooner than Neji would have liked. He barely managed to get into his stance as Kisame ran to him with the sword in hand. Neji spun on the ball of his foot and repelled the sword. The force of his attack so great that Kisame was flown back.

Before the Akatsuki hit the building Neji got in the way of his flying body and hit more of Kisame's charka points, hoping to numb him enough that he couldn't stand. The force of those hits cause Kisame to cough up spit and fly back in the opposite direction. But before he hit anything, Neji met him again and hit three pressure points in his leg. That force caused Kisame to spin out of control in yet another random direction.

Neji met him in that direction one more time, hoping that his would be over at this. He prayed it would be over after this and took his hits to Kisame's other leg. He scored four on that leg, knowing that Kisame wouldn't be able to raise. He would, unfortunately still be conscious, but able to walk. Too late, Neji realized that Kisame was headed for the pile of rubble that had buried Lee. Before Neji could do anything to stop it, Kisame would hit Lee.

Suddenly, Lee burst from the rubble, chunks of stone flying away from him while the air around him was visible with his power. Lee had opened the first gate while under the rubble with no one noticing, Neji realized. Surprise washed over Neji as Lee pulled back a fist and hit Kisame right in the stomach. The force of Lee's punch brought blood out of Kisame's mouth and his eyes rolled in the back of his head as he grunted at the pain, releasing hold of his sword.

Just a blur of black and red, Kisame's body slammed up against a building, causing it to crack in all directions as Kisame feel to the ground. Rubble from the broken wall fell on top of him, leaving only his hand visible.

Neji dropped to one knee, his chakra loss finally catching up to him. Lee breathed and closed down the first gate, returning his features back to normal. Lee and Neji looked at each other, panting, silently opening that it was really over. Before they even caught their breath, Tsunade appeared running toward them.

"Lee! Neji!" she shouted. Said men looked over at their Hokage.

Neji stood while Lee held his bleeding left side. They walked to Tsunade, the trio meeting half way.

"Are you all right?" Tsunade asked, her eyes trailing down Lee's side to Neji's hunched over form. Both men nodded, not speaking.

"Where is Kisame?" she asked urgently. Neji pointed.

"Buried under there," he told her. Tsunade turned her head and stared at the visible hand.

"Is he dead?" Tsunade asked, narrowing her eyes at the hand.

"We can't be sure," Lee grunted out, through the pain in his left side. Neji took this time to observe the Hokage and noticed the red around her eyes.

"Are you okay, Lady Hokage?" Neji asked. Tsunade whipped her head around to look at Neji curtly.

"Of course. I only came here to give you this," she held out a red vial in the palm of her hand. Neji took it and held it even with his face so he could exam it closer.

"Some kind of poison?" Lee asked, staring at the red vial in Neji's hand.

"Yes, especially made for Kisame," Tsunade explained. Neji mumbled something incoherent about the vial. Movement caught Lee's attention and he looked over toward Kisame's hand. Only he didn't see Kisame's hand. Lee saw Kisame rushing at them and Lee felt his heart stop for a beat, then pump so hard his chest hurt.

"NEJI! BEHIND YOU!" Lee yelled, taking a small step forward. Neji moved in the blind of an eye at Lee's warning. He was faced with a battered looking Kisame and before he thought about what he was doing, Neji uncapped the vial and injected Kisame in the chest with the poison.

Kisame was stopped immediately in his tracks. He began to gargle and Neji took a step back toward Tsunade and Lee. Bubbly foam erupted from Kisame's mouth and dripped down his chin onto his clothes. The visible parts of blue skin started to grow boils and those boils then exploded all over his body and he fell to his knees. Kisame's eyes rolled in the back of his head and his body began to smoke, leaving burns and popped boils all over his skin. Kisame finally fell to the ground, not moving. Dead.

"It's all over now," Tsunade quietly said.

* * *

The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon behind the Hokage's desk. The pinks and oranges did nothing to calm everyone in the Hokage's office. Naruto stood supporting Sasuke, Neji was supporting Lee, Tenten had blood on her clothes and looked worn down, Shikamaru and Hinata were silent and grim, Kakashi was unreadable, and even Sai didn't smile. Jiraiya and Sakura were not present.

"We were successful in defending the Leaf from Akatsuki attack," Tsunade told the ninja. "There were many ninja casualties as well as civilian, but we'll have to work hard to bounce back from this tragedy."

"Where is Sakura?" Sasuke demanded in a low voice, seeing as he was barely standing.

"She is getting medical treatment from what medics we have left. Her injuries were severe," Tsunade told him, looking him right in the eye. Sasuke's tension visible disappeared for the most.

"Will she live?" Sasuke quietly asked. Tsunade didn't hesitate.

"Yes." Sasuke felt limp with relief.

"What about Pervy Sage? Where is he? Why isn't he here?" Naruto shot, his face anxious. Tsunade didn't answer right away. She looked to the floor. "No."

"Pein killed Jiraiya," Tsunade said, tears blurring her vision. Naruto blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"No, Jiraiya was stronger that that," Naruto quietly denied, all his fight was nearly out of him. Hinata put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I don't know what happened," Tsunade managed to say. She sniffed hard, trying to fight away her tears. "I took on Konan. Pein lead Jiraiya away, I didn't see the fight."

There was a moment of silence in the room. Shikamaru was squeezing his eyes, Hinata let a few tears slip. Kakashi was looking outside the window, face as blank as a brick. Sai looked straight forward, a pained expression his face that Tsunade knew he couldn't fake.

"It was reported that Pein and Konan escaped. Deidara, Kisame, Zetsu, and Tobi are dead," Tsunade told the room after she composed herself.

"No," Sasuke rasped, "Tobi, well, Madara, is still alive. He's escaped too."

Tsunade sighed. She turned around and looked out the window at the rising sun.

"It can't be helped. Please rest, we've done our part for now. We've been crippled by this, but we will survive…Dismissed," Tsunade told them, with her back turned to them, her voice shaking. The ninja exited the office, slowly filing out one or two at a time.

* * *

**A/N: So that's the end. The next (last) chapter will be an epilogue, taking place two months after this battle. I hoping to have it out next week and then start another story. Review.**


	22. Epilouge: Two Months Later

_Two Months Later:_

Everyone was rushing. Sasuke was in the Hokage's office as random ninja were running in and out. Tsunade sat behind her desk, approving and disapproving things the ninja talked to her about. Sasuke was still in formal wear from wedding as was Tsunade. The door opened again, and Sasuke turned with agitation at another worker ninja wanted Tsunade to approve of a selection for the ceremony tonight.

Sasuke was faced with Naruto and Hinata, not in their bride and groom attire. Sasuke wondered what could be going on. From Naruto's face, he was thinking the same as Sasuke. The door opened again but Sakura came through, with Shikamaru, both dressed formally for the wedding that had just taken place. Kakashi was behind them.

"What's with the gathering, Granny?" Naruto quirked. Tsunade twitched at the granny comment, but otherwise left it alone.

"I'm calling you hear to make sure that you have a full grasp of what you're getting yourself into, Naruto. You and you're advisors," Tsunade nodded to the group. Naruto folded his arms over his chest.

"Of course I do, Granny. You've talked about this a million times. I'm not a kid anymore, I get it," Naruto told her, his bottom lip thrust out.

"I realize that, Naruto," Tsunade said. And she did, Naruto had grown up right in front of her eyes. She was happy to be passing on the title of Hokage to him.

"So why are we going over this, then?" Naruto complained. Tsunade bit out a pinched breath.

"The casualties from the fight with the Akatsuki have finally come in," Tsunade told them. The village had been a massacre that night. In the safe shadow of darkness, the village look horrible. In the light of day, the village had looked like hell. Dead bodies where more popular to come across than live bodies that night. The body count had been so high and there were people who where missing.

At Tsunade's announcement, the air grew thick with anticipation. If it was possible, everyone seemed to lean forward to hear these numbers. There wasn't a sound in the room.

"Our totally population in the villages was around one million. Around 100,000 civilians were killed. No civilians were wounded, they were either dead or alive; half of our ninja were found dead as well; nearly three quarters of the medics were found dead; almost every building was damaged in some way, shape, or form; and even some of the elders where found dead," Tsunade reported. She didn't need to read from the list that Sai had given her. She had read it over and over too many times to not know what it said.

"How could they accomplish that in such that short amount of time?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know, but it gives us an idea of who we're going up against," Tsunade said. This was the extent of they're power. And some Akatsuki members lived.

"Not all of them died that night. It gives us better odds for fighting them again," Shikamaru said. "That is, if the village was ready to fight again."

"You're right, Shikamaru, Konoha can barely scrap by now, as it is," Tsunade agreed. "And I'd bet my life that the rest of the members are out there, getting new recruits."

"Then we had better get some stability back in the village, so we can be ready again," Sakura firmly said.

Tsunade looked down at the papers on her desk and smirked. "You're right. Let's go. They're already cheering for you, Naruto."

Tsunade walked out from behind her desk and through the office door. The group followed, walking through town to get to the ceremony that would make Naruto Hokage. Sasuke followed, thinking to himself. Sakura had gone down because of them, the village had been in shambles and it still kind of was, innocent villagers had died, and it was all the Akatsuki's fault. Sasuke was being to see red, with the hatred that was boiling his blood. He wanted to rip the Akatsuki limb from limb.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his own, pulling him from his dark thoughts of rage. He whipped his head over to see Sakura gazing at him with a question in her eyes. Sasuke took a deep breath as the rage vanished as she held his hand. He tightened his grip, threading their fingers to keep calm and suppress thoughts of Akatsuki.

Sasuke tore his gaze away from Sakura's face and looked at Naruto's back; at the people cheering for him; and at the stadium that they were walking into with a screaming, happy crowd. They're screaming increased as Naruto was made visible. The group stepped up on stage, where Sai and Yamato already stood. Sasuke felt a rush of happiness and pride for Naruto at his accomplishments as the ceremony began.

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Sasuke stood beside Sakura and Naruto in front of all of Konoha. Sasuke couldn't hear anything over the roar of Konoha citizens as their new Hokage stood before them. Naruto grinned and held his new wife, Hinata, to his side as he waved at the crowd. The crowd roaring louder each time Naruto waved.

Sasuke smirked happily at the new Hokage and his wife. Then he turned his head and looked down at the woman he had his arm around. Sakura looked every bit a blushing bride and Sasuke was overcome with the need to have Naruto marry them here and now, but he restrained himself as Sakura smiled up at him. Her eyes were shining as she looked at him. Shining with her love…and her lust. Sasuke knew exactly how she felt, holding her closer to him.

Naruto and Hinata stepped off the platform. Sakura and Sasuke did the same, followed by Kakashi, Sai and Yamato. The crowd was still cheering as they left the stadium as well. Tsunade was at the door the stadium and walked ahead of Naruto and Hinata into the celebrating streets of Konoha.

Sasuke forced himself to take the long walk to the Hokage Tower. Then the even longer walk up the winding stairs to the top floor and out the door to stand on the roof of the tower and look at all the cheering people. Naruto took off his Hokage hat, causing the crowd to cheer, and bowed. He smiled at Hinata, then Sasuke and Sakura. His smile extended to Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato, and then finally to Tsunade.

"Do it well, kid," she told him, not containing her grin. Naruto chuckled.

"Are you kidding me, this is what I've always wanted," he told her. Tsunade's grin just grew until she had a smile from ear to ear.

"Congratulations, Naruto. I'm so happy for you," Sakura told him. Letting go of Sasuke, she hugged Naruto hard, who hugged her back just as hard. She released him then went back to the comfort of Sasuke's embrace. Naruto's eyes strayed to Sasuke.

"You finally got it," he said, like it was some miracle. There was a smirk on his face that he couldn't wipe away that seems suspiciously like a smile.

"There was never any doubt," Naruto confidently said. Congratulations were made all around, then Naruto bowed one more time for the crowd. Then he and Hinata went to go enjoy their honeymoon. Sasuke and Sakura walked hip to hip down the streets and knew that Konoha would be celebrating until dawn.

Finally back in the Uchiha compound, Sasuke blew a sigh of relief. Sakura left him in the foyer and went into the kitchen to make tea. Once she had perfected it, she sauntered back through the house and into the living room where Sasuke was seated on the couch.

She handed Sasuke a cup of hot tea and curled up beside him, drinking her own tea. Sasuke unconsciously put one arm around her and sheltered her in his arms. Sakura blew on the tea while she sipped.

"I'm so happy for Naruto," she said.

"Yeah, now that he's Hokage, he'll have one less thing to shout," Sasuke responded. Sakura lightly elbowed him in the ribs. He just chuckled a little. Sasuke put down his empty cup of tea.

"I know you're happy for him," she said, finishing off her cup of tea.

"I never said that I wasn't happy for him," Sasuke defended. Sakura rolled her eyes and put her cup beside Sasuke's on the coffee table in front of the couch.

When she looked back at him, Sasuke felt his gut tighten with lust. Her eyes were glazing over while she stared at him. Her hands started rubbing his chest through his clothes. Sasuke took a deep intake of breath as Sakura went lower on his torso. Since her release from the hospital two weeks ago, he hadn't let her touch him because of her injuries.

"You know, Sasuke, the whole town will be up all night. We won't be able to get any sleep tonight with them all celebrating," Sakura prompted. Sasuke's throat constricted. She had her fingers dancing around the waist band of his pants.

"Sakura, your injuries…," he started. She was unbuttoning the top button of his pants and his blood was going straight to his groin, making the air around them seem hot and thick. Sakura put a hand over his mouth.

"Fully healed, so stop hanging them over my head," Sakura whispered. She touched the hot skin of erection, the heat burning her fingers in a good way as Sasuke groaned deep in his throat. Sakura allowed a smirk to brighten her face.

"It's only been two months, the injuries were severe," Sasuke grunted out. She lightly stroked him up and down, then back again. His mind was completely overridden by his dick and he let out a low moan. Sakura slid on the couch, her face even with his manhood. She blew on it, unintentionally, and all thought erased from brain.

"Let me show you how much the healed," she breathed. His dick twitched toward her and she let out a sexy chuckle then touched the tip of her tongue to the tip of his erection. He sucked in a harsh breath. He tasted salty and silken. She smoothed her tongue over the rest of him, as much as she could.

The heat made the air thick. Sakura stroked the base of his manhood as she worked her tongue over him. She swirled and sucked, loving when he bucked up involuntarily. He had both his hand squeezing the couch, gripping so hard his knuckles where white. Sasuke to could feel the build up of his pleasure in the pit of his stomach, with each stroke of her tongue he was getting closer and closer to heaven.

Sakura could feel him tensing up and she sucked just a little harder on the tip of his erection. He yanked her shoulders back to keep her away from him. Sakura started, wondering what was wrong. She stared at his red face, chest rising hard and dropping just as hard to breathe in oxygen. Sakura stared at his closed eyes, tight jaw, and straining throat muscles. Watching him, she was finding it hard to breath when he look like a Greek God in the throes of passion.

His eyes suddenly snapped open and pinned her with his dark stare. Sakura's breath caught in her throat and she suddenly became light headed. His hands, which had been on her shoulders, slipped down her arms. The loosened fingers spreading goose bumps over her bare arms. Sasuke's hand grabbed hers' and he jumped off the couch, tugging on her hand. Sasuke led her up the stairs and up to the bedroom.

The bedroom was dark. Feeling their way, Sasuke laid her out on the bed. He stripped her slowly, taking off one piece of clothing at a time. In the dark, he couldn't see her recent scars that had yet to fade, but he knew they were there. As he took off a piece of clothing, his fingers lightly brushed over them.

In turn, Sakura undress Sasuke just as slowly. She took her time with the buttons on his shirt, slowly revealing his muscle. Then careful of his pants so she didn't accidentally bump his erection and cause him to hiss in pain and pleasure. Slowly he explored her body, taking his time to run his lips over her new battle marks. She gasp breathless every time he licked a certain scar.

Sakura slid her hands over his back, up his spine very lightly. He shivered and pressed closer to her. She bent her knees and wrapped them around his waist, needing his heat. Slowly, he entered her. Stretching her every so slowly to make it a blinding pleasure. Sakura tried to speed him up but he held her hips down, taking his time. She panted as he pushed in another inch, teasing her. Sakura gripped his back, hard. Hard enough to leave marks from her shortened fingernails.

He kept pushing, then stopping, added pressure, the pushed into her again. Sakura felt so hot it was like the fires of hell were living under her skin and she wriggled against him, just making the pressure that much more intense. Every time she wriggled or moved Sasuke strained himself from not slamming into her. He slowly treasured her body and when he was finally done teasing and cherishing, Sakura could almost grasp cloud nine and that beautiful heaven that came along with it.

Sasuke had pushed her so high, but not yet high enough. She bucked against Sasuke, going for heaven. She almost reached it, then Sasuke pulled out, ever so slowly, tearing a long moan from her throat that didn't stop until he was almost out. She felt empty for a moment before he pushed back into her. She couldn't breath, she was holding her breath because the only thing that consumed her was Sasuke. Sasuke and this pleasure.

He drew out again, and again he shoved back in. With ever motion, Sasuke became more lost, more high, than ever and his control was slipping. He could feel Sakura so close and he was joining her as his control slipped with each thrust into her velvet feeling core. He was embraced in so much warmth that his mind was slipping and he could only focus on Sakura. Sakura and the heaven he was pushing them to.

At last, they reached their heaven. She touched cloud nine right before he did. She didn't hear her shouts, or his shouts, only felt like she was floating on air, feeling like she was on a high. Slowly she drifted down like paper falling to the ground. Sakura opened her eyes, not knowing when she closed them, and gazed at Sasuke. She felt her chest swell up at his look.

He had a genuine smile on his face as he gazed down at her. His face had a smooth sheen of sweat on it and he was breathing heavy, but he looked at her like he loved her. She smiled back at him, bringing her arms from his back, to his hair where she twirled her fingers in the dark, damp locks.

"I'm so happy, Sasuke," Sakura whispered to him. There was no threat that they'd be overheard, but she wanted this moment to only be their's and no one else's.

"Me too, Sakura," Sasuke, too, whispered. He touched his forehead to hers'. He took himself out of her and rolled off her body. They embraced, laying on the bed, and feel to sleep together.

* * *

**A/N: Slightly shorter than I wanted it to be. However, I'm happy that this story has it's conclusion now. Thank you, for everyone who read and reviewed, you guys make me so happy. I'll have to start working on a new story. ^_^**


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